The Darkness isn't all Bad
by The One Named MoonLight
Summary: He was Pitch Black,the Nightmare King,the Boogeyman.He was dark,sinister,evil.But he was also with no recollection of his human life.Is the darkness always bad?Can't darkness for once represent something good?Maybe something like...familial love?If Pitch were to be truly honest with himself,he didn't really like fear...ladies and gents, we have reached the 100 mark!
1. Chapter 1:Birth of Mistress of the Wisps

Chapter 1: Birth of Mistress of the Wisps

* * *

_**You know, some say the Will-o'-the-Wisps lead you to your fate…**_

_**Oh, aye! Or an arrow!**_

The Wisps…They lead you…to things, be it fate, doom, lost items, loved ones…

They have a mistress…yes they do…their leader, their commander…you didn't honestly expect them to work on their own accordance? After all, they are just the souls of many people…a little like ghosts with a purpose…

It was a sweet, sweet summer night. The breeze was cool, carrying the fragrance of night flowers. The sky was a beautiful blanket, stitched by its creator so long ago, embedded with many little diamonds that winked to the beings of the ground, but this night they were very happy and twinkled like children dancing. In the center, the large shining being, commonly known as the Moon to the Humans, was shining brightly in exhilaration, for there was to be a new spirit born that night.

The moonbeams shone through the trees, they landed on a mound, covered with at least two hundred years of dirt and grown with Mother Nature's years tending of the grass and flowers that coated it. At once, the mound started to fall away slowly, revealing a hole, in that hole…

A young girl, no older than sixteen, sat up, yawning and stretched her slender arms. Her long, black hair fell around her like a blanket, framing her round, white face. She was wearing tight, black pants with faint, blue designs crawling up her legs and a long, floor length, deep blue dress. Two dainty slippers donned her small feet. She blinked her long lashes innocently, lashes framing two, gentle eyes.

Two golden eyes.

The young girl looked around curiously and asked with a strong Scottish accent, "Where am I?" she froze.

_Who am I?_

She felt the light at the back of her head and turned around, her eyes widened as she watched the beautiful Moon.

"Um…Hallo?"

The Man in the Moon shone as a greeting.

"Who ar yew?" she asked hesitantly.

_The Man in the Moon_.

She blinked, "Then…yew dinna s'pose yew culd tell me who am I?"

_You are Willowiana, Mistress of the Wisps_.

"Willowiana…" she tried, her face immediately broke into a smile, she liked it. "Who ar tha 'Wisps'?"

But the moon spoke no more…

However, as soon as she looked away, downcast, soft humming filled the air. Willowiana snapped her head at its direction and her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. Small, pretty orbs of blue light had gathered around her. They looked so innocent, so pretty, they reminded her of children. Willowiana smiled and gathered one in her palm, it stood patiently waiting for its mistress to command it.

"Yew must be tha Wisps, _còir_?" (right?) she asked it as she brought it to eye level.

The small bit that looked like a head on top seemed to have nodded.

Willowiana grinned and placed it again on the ground next to the other wisps. She turned to the moon and said sincerely, "_Tapadh leat_, Min in Moon."

Thank you, Man in Moon.

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**Soo then, what do you think? I hope you like it because I just can't wait to post the rest of the story! I'm ready to post the next chapter if you lovely readers give me at least five reviews. It's only five, no biggie.**

**Anyways, I'll elaborate a bit here. I know that there's no such thing as 'Mistress of the Wisps' but I couldn't really find a folklore character that had a girl in it and all the ones I did find weren't very appealing to me. The Will-o'-the-Wisps is really 'Will of the Wisps' so I played around a bit with it, read some articles, drew a character sketch (both with words and literal sketches) and finally came out with Willowiana. I'm sure you can guess that I got the 'iana' part from Tooth's full name. And that the Wisps are from a certain movie.**

**The language Willowiana was speaking like còir, hallo, and tapadh leat is Scottish Gaelic, the language of the Scots before they were invaded by the Norse and started speaking English. I was guessing that she'd speak a mixture of Gaelic and English because she used to live at the time when Britain had both English and Gaelic, just search it on Wiki.**

**I'm working on the second chapter, so while I do, I will leave you guys with two things: reviews and guessing the first two lines of this chapter, what movie it's from. The first one who does guess and tells me in the reviews will get a review on any writing of theirs, maybe more than one writing. So, I will leave with these words:**

**Soraidh mo leughadair!**

**Farewell my readers!**


	2. Chapter 2: Wonderful Reunion

**There you go, the second chapter, I've got such a trick up my sleeve, which I hinted of in the summary, I would've loved to see you're faces when you find out! Also, there's a lot of Scottish phrases and stuff here, so you'll find many bits called "The Scottish Dictionary" explaining them. You guys don't know how many tabs I have open about Scottish slang, expressions, phrases, and the like. I know there are some errors I wrote in Willow's speech, like the pronoun 'I' supposed to be 'A', but I didn't want to confuse you guys with really deep Scottish. I'd seriously appreciate it if any of you are Scottish speakers and point out anything I wrote wrong.**

**And thank you, wonderful reviewers, for leaving for me those reviews, I was seriously so happy! Now, I'm sure y'all remember that guessing game I had in there, right? The one about guessing the first two lines, well, the winner was:**

**Nighie**

**Everyone, give her a hand! *claps like a maniac***

**Alright, I'm leaving you to this chapter, and another guessing game, the first one who guesses what the last word Willow says in Gaelic means gets a prize of 2 reviews!**

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Chapter 2: Wonderful Reunion

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For eight hundred years since her rebirth, Willowiana had been guiding many humans for centuries. She led them to lost things, doom, safety, loved ones, treasures, all with the help of her Wisps. But her work was not limited to children only, its limits were when people would lose compassion. Willowiana learned all her abilities' tricks, she had the ability to glide into the treetops of forests and let her Wisps guide the people, she had the ability to summon any amount of Wisps out of thin air, she just knew what and where a person was to be led for, she herself could transform into a Wisp, and many more. The Man in the Moon, or _Calum na Gealaich_ as she called him in her mind (same meaning as in English), hadn't spoken to her at all since her birth, but Willowiana didn't mind, as long as he wasn't ignoring her, she didn't mind him being quiet.

The Will-o'-the-Wisps knew of the Guardians, in fact, Toothiana was her closest friend. North was a very jolly man and if he ever saw her at Christmas he never failed to give her a gift, even if it was small, it made her heart soar. Sandman was probably the only one who understood her strong Scottish lit and the Gaelic words that somehow made their way into her mouth every now and then. Bunny…well, they weren't very close, but he was nice to her, all the same, she got to have a chocolate egg from him if she helped him with Easter and stopped leading the children to the hidden eggs in Easter with her Wisps, plus the cutest face she could muster. The newest one was Jack, a small, cool (both ways) guy. She saw him a few times when he wasn't a guardian, but she was really shy of him until she tried to get attention to him from the humans. Willowiana remembered once of creating a magical place near his lake before his birthday with figures and snowmen and all winter things she could think of before leading as many people as she could to the place. The only problem was that she had written Jack Frost's name in Gaelic and so no one understood what was written. Jack had thanked her, nevertheless.

Mistress of the Wisps was at the moment leading a few children away from a cliff they were about to fall from safely to their village. She smiled to herself as she watched the children run off towards the village with many tall houses and whizzing metal carriages, time sure does change people. She then flew to her forest back in Scotland to check on the progress of her Wisps around the world leading people. She waved her hands in the air and watched a few of her Wisps appear, transforming to 'looking holes' to monitor the other Wisps.

Willow frowned, one of them were leading a few teens in a wild goose chase. She snapped her finger near the looking hole that revealed them and they immediately disappeared. Sometimes, those Wisps acted like nothing but impish children.

Suddenly, Willow's golden eyes widened and watched a little girl following a trail of black sand on the ground, a little girl with messy blonde hair, fake wings on her back, and had a habit of repeating the last word anyone tells her. At the moment she was repeating "Game, game, game!" over and over.

In no time, the Will-o'-the-Wisp shot through the blonde girl's looking hole and into Burgess Forest. She was in her Wisp shape and directed many Wisps to lead a trail, _away from the black sand_.

"Oooh! Pretty! Pretty! Pretty!" the young toddler said as she took notice of the Wisps and tried to catch one, but as soon as she got near to one it disappeared. The girl giggled and tried catching the next one and the next until she was at least a meter away from the black sand.

Willow breathed a sigh of relief and coaxed softly, "That's it, lassie, follow tha' Wisps."

Just as the girl was about to start chasing Willow, who was still a wisp, the black sand suddenly transformed to small little butterflies and fairies, catching the attention of the toddler again.

Willow gasped, "Nae, lass! Dinna follow tha' black sand!" she screeched.

But the little girl was already trying to catch the black sand figures. Suddenly, a boomerang flew in the air and cut through a few of the figurines. Willow sighed a sigh of relief, the Guardians were here. A sheet of ice replaced where the black sand trail once was, effectively ridding the world of a bit more black sand. Willow bit her lip and transformed from her Wisp form before running and grabbing the young child. She supposed it was alright since this child wouldn't really remember her when she grew up.

Willow placed the child away from the two fight figures and left Wisps with her to play with while the Mistress of the Wisps glided to help the two guardians.

"Hey, it's Willow!" Jack said happily as he tried to fend off a Nightmare.

"Long time no see, sheila." Bunny said.

She offered them her smile, "How ar ye twa? Yep, 'tis been a'while." She replied as she fended off the Nightmares with her hand-to-hand combat.

"Where were you for the last month or so?" Jack asked, "I'm now an official guardian!"

Willow dipped her head in a nod, "Aye, I heard 'bout that, Jack, _meal do naidheachd_."

He gave her a look.

"She said 'congratulations', Frosty." Bunny said.

"Thank yew, Aster." She said with a smirk.

"No problem, Iana." He returned the smirk.

Willow wrinkled her nose, "Yew kno' I dinna lyke t'be called that, Rabbit!" she said, irritated.

He chuckled, "No' m'problem, kid."

She rolled her eyes.

They finally got rid of the nightmares and the two guardians went to check on the kid.

"Hey, it's Sophie!" Jack exclaimed, "Hey, Soph."

She looked up from the Wisps, who disappeared on Willow's command, and giggled, "Jack!" but as soon as she noticed the rabbit, she squealed in delight and ran towards him, wrapping around his leg, "Bunny! Bunny! Bunny!"

He grinned, "Hey, ankle-biter. What're ya doin' up this late?"

She pointed towards the forest, "Black horsie and dusty."

The three spirits looked towards the forest, Willow's eyes lingered a while longer while the two guardians continued to talk to the toddler. The mistress of the Wisps couldn't help but feel there was something wrong.

"Hey, sheila? We're leavin'!" Bunny said.

She nodded distractedly, "Just a wee bit moment…" She walked closer, slowly, towards the forest with one hand positioned at her pocket, the one with a dagger. The girl froze and watched a black figure staring back at her with cold, menacing eyes, what caught her off guard were his eyes.

Golden eyes.

She felt something click in her head and felt like she once saw those eyes, but instead filled with warmth and kindness. She grabbed her head and lowered to the ground with a cry.

"_Chan,_ _chan_, _chan_…"(no, no, no) she murmured to herself.

Bunny and Jack were at her side at once, "What's wrong, Will?" Jack asked.

Willow looked up where the shadow man once stood, she blinked and shook her head, "I thocht…I thocht I saw…" she frowned, "Nae, I must be tyred."

The two male spirits watch her curiously, sometimes, they could never understand girls.

* * *

A few days later, the Mistress of the Wisps was flying as fast as she could towards Southeast Asia, in search for the palace in the skies. It was much easier to use her looking hole Wisps, but the problem was she could only use them to go to an area where there were Wisps, and no Wisps would go this high. Soon, Willow started to hear the humming of many wings and the closer she got the more of Tooth's fairies started to appear. They greeted her in their jittery talk and she replied with a smile before dashing towards the palace's gates.

"North America, Canada, Montreal! U.S., Washinton D.C.! Oh MiM! Alex lost his last tooth! Send him a whole dollar!" Willow managed to make out her friend's voice from the far gates.

"Tooth!" She called, "Where ar yew?"

"Oh! Over here, Willa!" to her fairies she said before going to her friend, "You three, keep in charge, you five, come with me." Tooth embraced her friend like this was her last hug, "Oh, Willa! It's been ages since we saw you!"

"Ya, I…kno', Tooth…" she gulped some air, "Can't pure…breath…_bancharaid_!" (friend)

Tooth quickly let go and scratched the back of her neck, "Oh, sorry, champ!"

Willow offered a smile, " 'tis nae skin aff me nose, Tooth, an ge'used t'yer…luv."

"So, what brings you -_oh! Brittany lost six teeth! Good for her!_- here, Willa?"

Suddenly, the Will of the Wisps felt like her request was stupid, but she knew Tooth was too kind to be that way, "Tooth, m'friend, I was wunderin' if yew…if yew had ma teeth."

Tooth blinked, "Your teeth?"

Willow nodded hesitantly, "I dinna mean t'be any truble, Tooth! I just…"

Tooth thought for a moment, "I don't know, Will, but let's go find out, shall we? It's like you said 'No skin from my…"

"Nae skin aff me nose."

"Yeah that."

The two female spirits flew upwards to search for Will-o'-the-Wisps teeth.

"So…I'm guessing you're from Europe?" Tooth wondered.

"Aye, 'tis correct."

The fairy flew to the column that held the cases of every European child. Toothiana hummed, "Hmmm, Scotland's in Britain, B, B, B, B… Aha!" she pressed at one point in the wall and there appeared what was a gigantic version of the teeth cases. Tooth pressed in the middle and the golden doors opened. Willow's hopeful demeanor faded when she saw the amount of cases there from every European child that Tooth collected their teeth from god knows when, and Tooth was older than Willow!

"I-It's ok, Willa, it's only a million plus cases!" Tooth said, trying to encourage her.

"_O'course_, Tooth, onl' a million plus cases…"

Tooth said in a loud voice, "Fairies! I need at least half a million of you here!"

Willow's eyes widened and before she knew it, a large swarm of the small hummingbird fairies flew in front of them.

"Go and search for a face in those cases that resembles Mistress of the Wisps here."

The fairies took one look at Willow before flying in a frenzy around the column with Britain's teeth cases.

"Y'sure this'll werk, Tooth?" Willow whispered from the corner of her mouth.

"Of course, Will!" but the expression on the queen of the tooth fairies seemed otherwise. Toothiana was probably communicating via telepathy with her fairies because she kept muttering things under her breath.

"Tooth?"

The fairy shook her head, "I was afraid this might happen, Will."

"Whit?"

She turned to her black haired friend, "You know that I had been born before you, in terms of immortality, Will, right?"

The Wisps leader nodded slowly.

"Well," Tooth sighed, "It may not be so in terms of mortality."

A moment of silence.

"'Ave nae thochtie o'whit ye said nauw." Willow said.

"Lower the Scottish please…you know I'm not that fluent in Scottish."

"I sai' tha' I've nae idea wha'yew said."

"Look, Willow, not everyone who is resurrected as an immortal means that they had just died recently as a mortal."

Will blinked.

"What I'm saying is that you could've died, say, a hundred years before you were born immortal."

"So yew's sayin' that I dyd mortal _ages_ befo' yew came t'existence?"

Tooth nodded.

Willow's shoulders drooped, how would she find her memories now? She honestly wanted to find out why there was a feeling of warmth every time she thought of a certain pair of golden eyes.

Suddenly, the Tooth fairy snapped her fingers, "Tell you what, before the concept of the Tooth Fairy existed, North told me that immortals used to remember their mortal lives with the help of items from past lives. That's how he found his memories before I came."

"Wha'ar yew jabberin' 'bout nauw?" Will asked.

"I'm saying," Tooth said excitedly as she flew to close the large column of Europe, "You must have something from your past life, it's what has your memories!"

"I dinna unnerstan, Tooth, where am I s'posed t'find an object from ma past?"

"Beats me, Willa, but I'm sure MiM could help with that."

"But _Calum na Gealaich_ donna spaek t'me! 'Ave been tryin' t'get tha' bloke t'say sumthin, but he's as quiet as a sleepin' babe!"

"Willow, calm down. I'm sure MiM will help in this, just try."

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**

_As you know, the Scots speak English like the rest of Britain, but they have a few words that are different or words that they pronounce differently, I will be placing these dictionaries throughout the fanfic to help you understand better, and if any of you just happen to speak Scottish, don't be afraid to correct me!_

Pure: Scots use this word instead of 'really'

An: 'one' as in a person

No skin off me nose: no problem

I have nae thochtie o'whit ye said new: I have not a thought of what you said now

I dinna unnerstan: I don't understand

_Alright, back to the story!_

* * *

Well, after pondering over Tooth's idea for some time, and even more time on her own doubts, then helping her Wisps lead a few horrible people into a river, Willow was sitting in her home forest, waiting for the Moon to appear.

"Dinna be silly, Willow, _Calum na Gealaich_ will gie's ye a hand, just b'patient ." she said to herself hopefully as she watched the sun slowly sink and create beautiful colors in the sky. A few looking hole Wisps were next to her, showing her their deeds in many places. She felt the sun's warmth leave the forest and in its place was the night's breeze and the Moon's rays, she turned to the sky and stood up.

"Hallo, Manny, how's it gawin'? I'm sure yew remember me, yew told me ma name 'bout aicht centuries ago. I…I need yer help, min, t'git ma memories." She looked up and was sure the moon shone a bit brighter.

"I hope it nae truble if yew culd direct me t'a lost object from ma mortal life. Please?" Willow waited patiently for him to answer, a good fifteen minutes. She blinked and realized that maybe MiM didn't want to help her. Just as she was about to turn away, she noticed that there was a beam of moonlight at her pocket. She blinked, "Michty me!" she whispered as she placed her hand in her pocket, she pulled out the most peculiar object.

A thin, silver chain sat crumpled in her palm with a simple, silver pendant that was empty other than a name written in so pretty cursive.

She looked up at the moon curiously, "I dinna… unnerstan…honestly…this pretty thing isnae mine…"

_Break the chain_.

Willow's eyes widened, "Nae! It's pure pretty!"

_Break the chain_.

She glanced at it, the name was so beautiful, it pulled at her heart with invisible strings, "What if…wha if this lass misses her jewel?"

_Break the chain_.

The Will-o'-the-Wisps sighed, and did as MiM told her. Immediately, white light engulfed her…

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

gie's ye a hand: give you a hand

aicht centuries ago: eight centuries ago

min: man

nae: no

Michty me: a Scottish exclamation

* * *

_She was in warm arms, holding her close, and the being holding her was feeding her while cooing to her._

_Mummy._

_At that moment, she heard something slam open and feet pounding, someone was panting hard._

_"Where's the baby, Caroline? Is it fine? Is it alive? Is it-"_

_Mummy chuckled, "Keep a calm sooch, Euan, tha' bairn's fine."_

_The someone seemed to relax because they stopped panting, she swiveled her head to try and get a good look at this someone named Euan. She blinked and watched, trying to get her eyes come to focus, but after nine months of staying in Mummy's protectiveness, her eyes weren't much use. She let out a cry of frustration, but all that came out were little baby cries._

_"Oh, no, no, no, darling, don't cry." The someone said in a smooth and strangely soothing voice. The voice didn't have Mummy's musical accent, but it had a more smoother one that was just as wonderful._

_She tried to will herself to stop, but once a baby starts crying, it become hard to stop. She felt two hands, bigger than Mummy's , carry her slowly. Mummy's scent was gone and replaced with a different one, she was sure this must be Daddy's scent._

_"She's absolutely gorgeous, Caroline." Daddy said. She grabbed onto him, hoping she'd get to him the message that she was sorry she yelled._

_"She takes a muckle bit from ye, Euan." Mummy said._

_She felt Daddy tickle her chin, she couldn't help but let out a giggle. She managed to open her eyes again and saw her dad, although blurry from her birth, she could make out a long, pale color face with a mess of black mass on his head. His face was completely void of hair except for his very light eyebrows over his…golden eyes. Golden eyes filled with warmth and kindness._

.

.

.

_"Where are you, little one? Come out! Come out!" the tall man walked slowly towards the chair, her hiding place, "Come on out! I'm coming to get you!"_

_She giggled and darted to another chair just as he turned his back away from her._

_"Where are you, you little rascal? I'm coming to get you!" he did a show of showing a sinister smile and rubbing his hands in a malicious way._

_The young, black haired girl giggled and managed to move away just as her father bent down to look for her behind the chair._

_"Hmm. Where is my little pearl? I'm going to gobble her up when I find her!"_

_As soon as she had the chance, she darted to the place she had in mind. Two hands grabbed at her waist and pulled her to father's very thin body. She let out a shriek of laughter as he started to nibble at her._

_"Nae, nae! Nae, Da!" she said happily._

_He laughed and kissed the top of her head._

.

.

.

_She looked up from the necklace to her father, he smiled to her, "Happy birthday, dearest." He said._

_She smiled and attack him with a hug, "Thank ye, Da! Oh, thank ye, thank ye, thank ye! I luv ye so much."_

_Her father's arms wrapped around her and ruffled her hair._

_"Come on, yew twa! Tha'cake's ready!" her mother called._

.

.

.

_She looked in the mirror, staring at her was a thin and shortish girl with a round, pale face that had dainty, red lips, a small nose, and two golden eyes framed with her dark lashes. Her long, black tresses were at the moment fashioned into an elaborated hairstyle of two thin braids from the front of her head to the back, cascading with the rest of her hair to her waist. Her body was stuffed into a green dress that had a collar and billowing, wide sleeves. A thin, golden line circled her waist and created a bow at the back._

_"Turn 'raund, darlin'." Her mother said behind her._

_She turned around to face a woman taller than her clad in a deep blue dress and blonde hair that was fashioned into an elaborated bun. Her mother came and set a simple, golden crown on her head that was as tall as the width of two fingers and was studded with diamonds. At least she wasn't a princess or she'd have to wear an even more elaborated outfit._

_Her mother stepped back and had her hands clasped together._

_"Haow dew I luk, Ma?" she asked hesitantly._

_"Yew ar a vision o' perfection." She smiled, "I'm sure tha' prince'll flip when he sees yew."_

_She laughed and dipped her head, "Or drops dead."_

.

.

.

_"Da?"_

_"Yes, darling?"_

_"Why dew ye spaek in that weird accent?"_

_"Because I didn't grow up in Scotland, darling, I grew up in England."_

_"Oh," she thought for a moment, "But ye's still'a Scot an' proud?"_

_He ruffled her hair, "Yes, still a Scot and proud."_

.

.

.

_Golden eyes peered through the window, trying to get past the blizzard and the dark._

_"Ma?"_

_"Aye, dear?"_

_"Whaur…" she gulped, "Whaur's Da?"_

_Her mother blinked, her mother was pale and worrying over many things for the past hours, "Da's…"_

_She left the window, "Thaur's sumthin' ye's nae tellin' me o', Ma." She stopped walking, "Whaur's Da? He was s'posed t'be here haurs 'go!"_

_Her mother finally broke into tears and she hugged her daughter, "Lassie, Da's nae cummin' home tonicht."_

_Her eyes widened and she glanced at the window, "Da…"_

.

.

.

_"Come on, Fia! Follow me!"_

_Her friend gulped, "We're tint! We'll neva' gae out o'tha' forest!"_

_"Trust meh! I kno' wha' I'm doin'!" she called over her shoulder as she ran._

_Suddenly, Fia screamed, "Nae!"_

_…just as she dropped into a deep hole. Darkness engulfed her and put the girl out of the pain she'd been experiencing for two years since her father's death. She'd sleep for many centuries before waking up to the Man in the Moon, befriend Tooth, North, and Sandy, greet Bunny and Jack Frost. And wonder of Pitch, the nightmare king, why was he so evil?_

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary:**

Keep a calm sooch: the word **"**sooch**"** means "wind". So the phrase is used to encourage someone to keep calm or hold their tongue.

Bairn: baby

Muckle: big

Da: father

Twa: two

tint: lost

* * *

Willow gasped and fell back, she grabbed her head and watch with distant eyes the ground. She suddenly remembered everything. She had a family, she had friends, parents, she was a noble's daughter, she was to be wed on her 20th birthday, and she remembered her death. She looked at her closed fist and saw the necklace in her hand, bunched up in a ball, but still intact, there were no broken things in it, especially the chain.

"_Mo chreach_!" (good heavens) she said, "Oh, losh, I remember hale jing bang!" she looked at the moon and felt a tear slip down her face. Willowiana slowly drew her legs to her chest and cried on her knees from the stress, not really caring who saw her.

"Wh-Why's ma Da…him? _An dona fear_?" (the bad man) she sobbed, "Tha' min with a face like a torn scone, play the loun, ramgunshoch cuddie o' a min!"

The moon could only coax her by shining a bit brighter and having Sandy put her to sleep with sweet dreams.

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

Losh: lord

Hale jing bang: everything

Tha' min with a face like a torn scone: the man with a face like a torn scone, an insult

Play the loun: act mischievously, Willow meant mischievous

Ramgunshoch: a word for rude and boorish found in south-east Scotland

Cuddie: donkey

* * *

For the past week, Willow had been nothing but depressed, so depressed that she couldn't do her work right. She led parents looking for their child deep into her forest instead and got them lost, the doom of a certain man was more gruesome than she wanted, the lost doll a child was looking for ended up having the child bump into a thief…the list went on. When a celebration was held for Jack Frost being the fifth guardian, she didn't go and complained she was staying in Greenland.

She was getting the feeling of regret, deep regret for wanting to see her memories. She'd cry herself to sleep and have nightmares every night, she dreamt of her father transforming in front of her into the sickly evil being. She dreamt of her monster father cackling at her fears. She dreamt of his cold, cold eyes.

Finally, she decided she wouldn't have herself weep -or 'bubble' as she put it- over this twisted twist of fate, no, she was going to try and see the best in this situation. She was not going to wallow in her worries, she was going to go and confront her fears.

And so that's how she ended up at the old broken bed with a deep hole in the center.

Willow took a deep breath, "Awright, stop bein' a ninny and ge' yer bumbalerie down thaur!" she scolded herself. The Mistress of the Wisps transformed to a wisp and flew down the tunnel, the deep, dark, cold tunnel.

When she just made it at the other end of the tunnel, she stood still, a bit taken back by the sudden darkness. The place just _reeked_ of fear. Out of fear, the young girl reverted back to her normal form and managed to keep in the air, not falling on her face. She moved tentatively forward and muttered, or more like squeaked, "Hallo?"

Was it her imagination or were those shadows _moving_? The shadows seemed to be taking the form of a man, a very familiar man.

Willow was sure she wasn't imagining when she heard a sickly sweet and familiar voice, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Will-o'-the-Wisps."

She gulped in a deep breath of air and stayed quiet.

One shadow stood out from the others, it was more defiant, "What? Has one of my Nightmares scared you speechless?" he joked, "Or maybe…caught your tongue?"

She blinked, the darkness was overwhelming, especially the fact that there were shadows _in the darkness_.

The shadow she had been staring at came forward and revealed a pair of golden eyes. Willow froze, the golden eyes were so cold it made her bones shiver.

"Don't you know, staring isn't nice, little one." He mocked.

Willow took in a deep breath of air and took a step forward, erasing her fears momentarily, "_Hallo_, _athair_."

* * *

***bumbalerie means behind.**

**So, has anyone guessed it yet? Well, go on and post in the reviews!**

**As usual, I'll post the next chapter after five reviews, just to know that this story's not abandoned (yep, I'm such a paranoid).**

**I just hope I haven't made any of the Characters too OOC.**

**Oh yeah, I wanna share a funny bit with y'all. See, when I was still developing Willow, I asked my younger brother (he's not that young, seriously) if he could conjure any folklore female characters. So he, being the _most creative_ guy on earth told me 'Santa's Wife' and then I gave him "the look" and told him to be a bit more creative. He then says, "You know, Santa _is_ married and Santa's wife gave birth to all the elves." I cracked up laughing at that point and then gave him "the look". I guess that's what happens when we barely know who's Santa and all that, we don't celebrate Christmas or Easter or any of that stuff. All I know is that Santa's some bloke who loves cookies and sends gifts to all the children in the world _in one night_.**

**So, I guess I should stop babbling and go fix up the third chapter. Don't forget: guess the meaning of the last word in Gaelic and leave at least five reviews.**

**Guid cheerio the nou! (that's Scottish for Goodbye.)**


	3. Chapter 3: Surprises in the Dark

**Hello, my fellow readers! Finally -_finally!_- I got the five reviews! I am so happy! Thank you all!**

**As for the winner of the last competition...*drum roll*...:**

**WreckItRalphFan**

**YAY! Congrats, WreckItRalphFan, take a bow!**

**The answer was "Hello, father".**

**And one last bit, I'd like to also thank WreckItRalphFan for helping me get attention to this fanfic. Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Surprises in the Dark

* * *

Pitch blinked, "What did you call me?"

Willow allowed herself to smile, right into the Nightmare King's face, "Those games dinna werk on me."

He frowned, "I have not a thought of what you mean, my dear."

The Will-o'-the-Wisps cocked her head in confusion, "Honestly, ye 'avenna fergotten Gaelic that fast. 'Tis onl' been a'millennia fer yew, gie or take a few yaers."

"What are you talking of, girl?" Pitch asked.

"Da! Stop yer games, it isnna funny anymore! _Stad!_" (stop, stop…) Willow said in a bit of frustration, what was wrong with her father?

At once, a frown replaced Pitch's confused expression, "Da…?"

"Aye! I'm yer daughter an'yer ma father!" Willow said, waving her hand in anger as she rose from the ground, "Ye's feelin' nae weel? Or has yer immortal status made ye twa bubbles aff the centre?!"

Pitch's frown deepened, "Look, girl, I don't believe I know what's gotten into you, but I'm not your father."

Willow lowered to the ground and brought her hands slowly to her sides, "Nae ma…b-but yew had such a'wunderful memory, Da! Ye…ye used t'be able t'remember tha'names o' every ane a'yer ancestors! Ye laernt Gaelic in onl' twa yaers when ye met Ma!"

The Nightmare King was definitely confused now, "Tell me, Will-o'-the-Wisps, have you bumped your head recently? You don't remember who I am?"

"Yer ma father, ya dimwitted, bampot, carnaptious gomeril!" She practically screamed. "_Sibh àrainn às a chiall!_" (you are crazy)

Pitch took a step back in wariness, "Do I _look_ like I am even related to you?"

"_Ye need a' mirror or ar ye __bloody__ blind?!_"

"I will not tolerate a hormonal adolescent coming into my home and insulting me."

Instead of being offended, Willow's face brightened and pulled out her necklace from her pocket, she thrust it into his large, pale grey hands. Pitch gave her a questioning look.

"Braek tha' chain." She said excitedly.

"You want me to-"

"Aye! Dew it!"

He glanced at her one more time before giving a harsh tug at the chain, it tore apart and sat in his hands.

Willow glanced eagerly at him, "Yew remember now, Da?"

"You're trying my patience, dear." He said with anger bubbling.

Her eyes widened and she grabbed the necklace to stare at it in shock, not that it mended to her touch, but by the fact it lay lifeless, "Nae…nae, nae, nae! It's s'posed t'werk! Yer s'posed t'remember! _Sibh àrainn_ _saoil do meòraich!_" (you are supposed to remember) she wailed.

He had the feeling she was insulting him in that…Gaelic of hers. Pitch finally lost his patience and snapped his fingers, two Nightmares stood at his side, "Leave. Now."

She stared at him with unshed tears, "Ye donna remember givin' this t'me?"

The horses advanced towards her slowly, but she wasn't even paying attention, "Ye…ye donna remember…"

Pitch noticed her frozen form and glanced at his horses, "Heed…" he warned.

But they paid him no attention and advanced more to the girl, who was at the moment too deep in self pity to notice what was happening.

Pitch said in a louder voice, "Heed! Heed I tell you!"

They were getting closer towards her, one started to bare its teeth.

"Get out of the way!" he said to the girl.

But Willow just stood there, staring at the necklace in her hands.

Pitch snarled and dropped into a shadow before appearing in front of her with his black sand scythe, "Away, you two!" he ordered as he waved his scythe.

Willow looked up and fell back a few paces, she watched as he managed to get his mares to hide in the shadows. The tall man turned towards her and made his scythe return to sand.

"What is wrong with you? Do you have a death sentence?" he said coldly.

The girl didn't move. Not even a blink.

"I've just saved your life, if you were done with your nervous breakdown."

"Yeah, thanks." She said, he was sure he heard her mumble, "_Mi seach fàs marbh_." (I would rather be dead) The young girl turned around to the tunnel, she transformed into a Wisp left through the tunnel, illuminating it momentarily and filling it with soft hums.

Pitch glanced at the ground and saw the words, _I will be back, Pitch_.

He groaned and pulled his hair, "Oh no."

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

twa bubbles aff the centre: derived from the bubbles on a spirit level, someone who is "twa bubbles aff the centre" is regarded as a bit simple or stupid.

Bampot: an idiot

Carnaptious: irritable or quarrelsome

Gomeril: fool

* * *

Just because Willow knew the fate of every being she led doesn't really mean she knew _hers_. As soon as she left Pitch's layer, she raced towards her forest and sat in her favorite area, with many Looking Hole Wisps around her.

"Stupid Pitch. Stupid memories. Stupid mortal life. Stupid. _Gòrach_. _Gòrach_!" (stupid) she mumbled, "Why did tha' bloke 'ave t'forget? Isnna it enough 'ave ma _own_ problems t'deal with?"

Alright, her father doesn't remember her. She thought when she received her memories that Pitch was nothing but evil because she hadn't remembered him. But it turns out it was simply because he hated her very guts.

To make matters worse, she bumped into Jack on her way back home and he told her the Guardians had a meeting concerning Pitch. They considered him a threat after what happened with Sophie and were planning to keep an eye on him from now on. Although the guardians were her friends, The Mistress of the Wisps knew that there was no way they'd accept the fact that she was Pitch's daughter. How could one with a center of guidance be related to one of fear, to one who led people astray? It just didn't work.

The few idle Wisps, other than the Looking Holes, that were always at her tail hummed and sighed to soothe her. Willow sighed back and stroked one of their heads.

"I kno' ye donna like t'see me so, but I'm in an emotional conflict. 'Ave found ma Da, good and well, but he just donna remember me! T'make matters worse, he's just pure evil!"

The sighed and rubbed into her jacket.

"Maybe I should spaek with Tooth, she's a'good friend." She mused.

The Wisps started to tug at her hair.

She huffed and batted them away, "Oh, naenow, wee ans, _Màmag_ is busy." (mummy)

Their sighing and hums were getting louder, and their tugging was getting harder.

Finally she scowled, "Whit's it ye's want?"

They pointed frantically to a dark spot and hid behind her.

Willow looked at where they gestured to and could see a small, dark form.

"It's nothing, jus'an animal, a'poor, wee, _beathach_." (animal) She soothed as she crept closer towards it, "Come out, come out, I won't hurt ye."

The form started to get larger, Willow slowed in place and watched as it stood up. Golden, hollow eyes stared into her own from a long, black face with fear rolling off it like water.

"Fearling." She whispered before it lunged at her. She let out a screech so loud it made the birds flutter out of the trees in fright. Willow ran like she never did in her life, glancing over her shoulder every so often. The Wisps around her hummed in panic.

The black being was starting to speed up, it had taken to use legs, two long, black, grotesque legs that beat the earth. It was starting to lose them and go back to gliding as it took the form of a large, black bird.

Willow whimpered when she caught sight of the Fearling, "Oh no!" She felt her body rise in the air and fly as fast as her abilities allowed.

The Wisps hummed to her a message, but their Mistress shook her head.

"Nae! Ye will not face tha' Fearlin' alone. If yer gonna fight, ye'll fight by ma side."

They hummed with joy as she stopped and turned around with her blade in her hand. Willow narrowed her eyes, but did not see anything.

"Hmph, maybe tha' light scared it off." The Wisps hummed in agreement.

Suddenly, Willow's eyes widened and whispered, "Oh crivvens!" before speeding as fast as she could towards her Looking Hole Wisps.

But she was too late as the Fearling went through one of them, tainting it grey. She wasted no time in following it. Willow could barely hold back her tears as she watched the scene in front of her. A child's doll lay by a flowing river, the child itself nowhere to be seen, the answer was all but unknown as to what happened to the poor child.

"Oh, tha' _bochd pàisde_ …" (poor child) she whispered as she stared at the doll. She picked it up, hoping to return it to its parents. As she scanned the area, Willow could not help but scream as a mother would for her children. The Fearling had sent a wave of shadows at the Wisps that child was supposed to be following, the Wisps were now tinted grey, like sick little babies. Willow hurried to one of them and landed on the ground, she scooped one up and tried to sooth it.

"Oh, dearie, oh…'am _so_ sairry!" she said.

The Wisp in her hand hummed weakly in reply before disappearing in a poof. She looked up and saw the many other Wisps tainted were also starting to poof into grey clouds.

The first thought that came to her was telling the Guardians, but as she flew towards North's place in the North Pole, she thought that maybe it was better if she didn't tell them. She had a hunch that this was the work of Pitch, probably getting back at her for making him angry, so she figured the best way to earn back her father's trust was to keep it a secret. Yes, it was much better if she confronted him herself…

* * *

"Da?" she called.

No answer.

"Da..d?" she tried again.

Still no answer.

Willow frowned, wouldn't the dark man at least be angered by the light her Wisps were giving off?

"P-Pitch?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the shadows form into the silhouette of a very tall, very slim man.

"Well, look who remembered." He muttered sarcastically.

Willowiana spun around to face him with crossed arms and a raised brow, "Something's up, Mastre o' tha' dark."

"Oh?" He mirrored her expression, "And what would that be?"

"Ye's mad at me for tha' yester visit?" She asked.

"I'd say the more…appropriate term would be 'confused'." He said as he started to walk towards a pair of open doors.

"Alright," she said as she turned with his every move, "yer a bit confused an' gaun yer dinger, so ye decided t'pae back and kill some o'ma Wisps?"

Pitch blinked as the door shut closed, "…what?"

Willow rolled her eyes, "I said that yew were angry with ma' visit yesterday, so ye decided t'pae me back with yer Fearlin'?"

"Fearlings…those aren't under my control." He said as he shook his head, "They've never _been_ under my control."

"Neva'…I hae ma doots." She said with the wave of her hand.

"No, I can assure you that they are not related to me in any way possible."

She followed him, "It's naepure easy t'believe ye, Pitch. I mean, yer tha' _Nightmare King_! Tha' _Baugiemin_! Tha' impersonation o' _Fear_ itself!"

He glanced at her sideways, "So? That doesn't mean I'm just a trickster, a manipulator, does it?"

"Well," Willow stopped gliding and stood on the ground, her hair went in her face as she spoke hesitantly, "not pure, nae, but ye ar known t'be aff pitten an't' play tha'loun often."

"That is what I'm known of, child, what others believe," he explained with a wave of his arm and melting into the shadows.

She looked around, "Pitch? Come out, Da, nae games!"

She let out a cry of fear when he suddenly appeared behind her and clasped his long, grey, bony hands on her shoulders, he let out a chuckle at her reaction, earning a glare, "They -_and you_- believe that Pitch, the Nightmare King is the ruthless, vicious, _evil_ being that scares children until they beg for their Mummies. That I'm the malicious Boogieman who hides under beds to grab onto little ones' ankles and make them scream. That I'm the very embodiment of fear." He said at last standing in front of her, he lowered to eye level for her (which was quite low), "But you know what's the worst?"

Willow blinked.

"They think that I _like_ Fear." He rose slowly and strolled away from her, "They think, that I _relish_ on that emotion, that it's my _salvation_, that I'm practically _addicted_ to it!" he let out a dry laugh and turned around with a face devoid of any smile, "Well…they're _simply_ and _utterly_ wrong!"

Ookay, that was a bit unexpected, she thought as her father paced towards her.

"Fear is nothing but a poison, it grabs at your heart, it plays with it, it makes it weak! The humans, _they_ are the ones who created fear. For them, all they need is a bit of soothing and everything will be alright. But for me, a spirit…I am stuck every single second of the day with Fear's tendrils grabbing at me, _hurting_ me…" he laughed coldly at the irony, "And then who do you think is to blame for all this Fear, hm? One who never even created it in the beginning?"

"Y-yew?" she said hesitantly.

He nodded, "It's not _my_ fault that I've got shadows crawling up my skin and giving it an odd tint or a very…dark aura. It's not my fault I wanted to be believed in again, like the other Guardians who stole my spotlight at their arrival!"

"I-I'm sairry, so pure sairry…Da…" she whispered.

"It's not your fault, I suppose," he mused, "You never show yourself to those humans anyways. They only believe in your Wisps."

Willow frowned, "Nae, they believe in the _Will_-o'-tha'-Wisps. Will, that's meh, Willowiana."

Pitch waved a hand towards the tunnel opening, "Just leave me be, Mistress Willowiana, I _am_ busy..." He said as he walked towards a shadow to blend in.

Just before he could blend in, Willowiana shouted, "Wait!"

He glanced over his shoulder, his legs were already blended with the shadow, "Yes?" he asked, a bit irritated.

"I…" Willow fumbled with her hands, "Whit dew yew mean? 'Believed in again'? 'Tha' other Guardians'? There onl' five Guardians!"

Pitch, the Nightmare King, sighed. But it wasn't an annoyed sigh, it was a sigh heavy with sadness, it made his very tall being just seem that _tadest_ bit shorter with a faint slouch, "Once…upon a _long_ time ago, I was the spirit of Courage." The shadows engulfed him before Willow could say another word.

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

gaun yer dinger: lost your temper

aff pitten: evasive

I hae ma doots: I am very dubious about this

* * *

The girl didn't visit him for several days, Pitch had a feeling he knew why. It's not every day the king of fear tells you he was the spirit of the very opposite what he currently represents. It was such a long time ago that he even uttered that word, so long ago, in fact, that it seemed almost foreign. Well, he _did_ say almost…Old memories he had buried and stashed away came flooding back. He was such a revered spirit in his first few centuries of existence, although he was a bit…rough, he did his job well in exchange for believers. Then, those Guardians came along and ruined everything! They over nurtured the hope, the wonder, memories, and dreams, all which led to humans creating too much fear. And where did all this fear go? Well, none other than Pitch Black! The very one who fought to keep that…that _thing_ at bay! So when he tried to do his work like he used to before the Guardians, all he got were crying children and more fear. It ate at him, the fear, and it _hurt_. It was according to the person, some had fear that felt like needles, quick but painful, others' were like a dull headache which lasted for hours without rest. The pain lasted till now.

At the moment, Pitch was doing the most peculiar…well, for him, at least. Standing high in the clouds on a small cloud of black sand, Pitch was waiting for the moon to appear. Never mind that it was freezing cold, oh no, or that the clouds decided to come out tonight, no, no, he was supposed to be the Nightmare King, the king can wait a while, right?

As soon as he caught a glimpse of the white, shining mass, a frown etched onto his face and he folded his arms, "You're late." He hissed.

_Sorry, but there are a lot of children who would enjoy a bit of a nightlight right now_.

Pitch blinked, did the moon just…?

_Yes, Pitch, I just talked. Happy now_?

Pitch scowled, "After a whole millennia of chaos, _this_ is when you decide to speak?!" he asked with the wave of his long arms, "Where were you six hundred years ago when those…_Guardians_ came and ruined my job? Where were you when humans started to create fear? _Where were you when I was almost killed?!_"

_In the sky…_

The dark man snarled, "Don't play games with me, you knew that they ruined me, and yet you just sat there with a _smug smile on that face of yours!_"

_Couldn't you all work together…?_

"It's their fault, they did this to me! I was doing fine for four centuries, using my black sand to help Children have Courage and _overcome_ their fears, and then these blithering idiots not only took away my believers, but compared to them, I'm everything negative _just_ because I don't have much color or I prefer hiding in shadows. Now they think they're doing a good job of extinguishing every bit of my signs, be it Nightmares, black sand, or even a little, harmless shadow. They've tipped the balance, children are becoming softer and more frightened with the passing of each day. Soon, fear and darkness would populate the planet, it would be all _your_ fault."

_But_-

"And don't 'but' me just yet, MiM, of course all of you spirits would be affected by it, no hope, no wonder, yes, sure it would leave a mark on the Guardians, but who do you think will _suffer_? Who do you think will _drown_ with the overload of fear in the air? I would become nothing but a torturing victim for that stuff."

_You__ still__ hate fear?_

Pitch rolled his eyes, "Yes! What, did you think all these years with Fear would override my center?"

_Well_-

"_WRONG!_"

_Pitch, old friend, I'm sorry this all happened, maybe I could speak with the Guardians, make a contract_-

"You know what's your problem? You've got an overly kind heart, you're too kind. I'm not asking for repenting any of my sins, everything I did had a reason, I'm asking you to remove me from here."

_What? You're giving up your job?!_

The tall man let out a hallow laugh, "You're funny, or blind, all the same," he said with the shrug of his shoulders, "But I already gave up six centuries the prior."

_You're here for a reason, Pitch, you can't just give up because it's hard_.

"It's not only _hard_," he said as his shoulders drooped, "I've been the bad guy for a very long time, and I was just doing my job. Why did you put me here, MiM? So that they can defeat me over and over?"

_No, no, you can come to an agreement, Pitch, no need for all this…wallowing_.

"Well, it is, if I'm all alone, hated, to stay in the shadows!"

_But you're not hated, not fully_.

"Oh?" he crossed his arms, "And pray tell who's the _lunatic_ who doesn't hate the Boogieman?"

_Someone who cares for you, someone…not like the other spirits_.

"Who?"

The moon was silent.

It slowly dawned on him, Pitch groaned and tugged at his hair, "Oh, no, not _her_! She's a mental case!"

_But she loves you…_

"She thinks I'm her father!"

_How would you know if she's right or wrong? You don't remember your own mortal life, so who are you to judge?_

"Because I am sure…that, that there is no way we knew each other in mortality, she arrive at least two hundred-"

_Three hundred_.

Eye roll, "Three hundred years after me, how could I be her father?"

_Maybe I left her asleep for some time, to wake her up when the time was right._

Pitch stopped and looked down at his hole, how…? He shook his head, "No, impossible."

The moon sighed, _It's your choice, Pitch, I think you should continue your job, your real job. Maybe Sanderson will come back and help you, like old times_.

Pitch humphed, "You keep dreaming, MiM. Sandman will never team up with an ex-ally."

The moon could've shrugged, _Well, at least think about it, I've got a few other places that need light and it's almost morning, so I've overstayed my welcome_.

Pitch sighed and escaped through his hole before the sun could appear.

* * *

When he arrived, he was surprised to find Willow sitting near his tunnel and staring at what looked like flying pictures surrounding her. She hummed in a very non-human, almost angelic way, probably giving orders. He crept silently towards his room, but inwardly groaned when she said in her loud voice.

She stood up, staring at him, "Da, whaur were ye? I thought ye's decided t'sleep in. But I culdnnae find ye in yer bedroom." She asked over her shoulder.

He frowned, how on earth did she find his bedroom? "I had…business. And it's Pitch, not Da." He said.

"Whit kind o'business?"

"Millennia old business. And who said you can just come here whenever you fancy?"

"Oh, umm…" she fumbled with her hands and did not bother to remove the hair from her face, "Ye's still bubblin' an' got a'tontine face ova' mah attitude from tha' first time?"

He gave her a look, "How am I supposed to understand that?"

She rolled her eyes, "I said that yer upset about the wee bit o'attitude I gae ye tha'first time I came haur."

At this, Pitch shook his head, "If you stop mentioning it, it would be much better. Your attitude that day gave _me_ nightmares!" He muttered as he waved his hands, black sand emitted from his fingertips, molding into his army of black mares, "Nightmares, come out!"

He pointed at the front one, "Onyx, come here."

"So, ye's naedour 'bout tha' first time?" she asked hesitantly, taking a few steps forward.

"If I were, I would've sent an army of Nightmares to haunt you for some time." He replied without looking to her. He removed a few of his mares by turning them to black sand as he walked between them. He ran a hand over one of them and then his face contorted into confusion as he saw that not only was there the usual black sand coating the horses, but also shadows. He didn't remember melding any shadows with his Nightmares, shadows made them weak in the light.

"I…alricht." she looked up. Instead of freezing in fear or letting an ear piercing scream like he expected, she squealed, "Oh! Ya beauty!" She scrambled towards them, "Ye's must lemme ride ane o'em! Oh, please, please!" she glided above them, touching one, rubbing her hand on another. Pitch was surprised to see one of them muzzle her in pleasure as she scratched its neck.

"Gerlinde!"

The horse that was muzzling Willow looked up frightfully.

"Step forth."

The horse glanced, frightened, at the girl before obeying her master. Willow was extremely perplexed to see a Nightmare, an animal that gave off fear, was afraid. She noticed Pitch actually looked a tad bit paler when the frightened horse came towards him. Maybe his rants a few days ago were true after all. _They think that I __like__ Fear_…_Fear is nothing but a poison, it grabs at your heart, it plays with it, it makes it weak!...I am stuck every single second of the day with Fear's tendrils grabbing at me, hurting me_…_Once…upon a __long__ time ago, I was the spirit of Courage…_ The words echoed in her head.

"Wha' ar yew gonna dew t'her?" Willowiana asked warily.

"You are no longer under my orders," he said to the horse, he pointed at Willow, "She is your new master."

Willow froze before glancing at the horse, and then at Pitch and then the horse again. In less than a second, Willow shot out of her place and attack Pitch…

…with a hug.

"Oh, thank ye! Thank ye, thank ye, thank ye muckle, Da!"

Pitch stood, frozen in place, not knowing what to do. What does one do when they receive a hug? What does one do when they receive an action of affection, or at least one devoid of any harm at all? But as he watched her long black tresses move with her bobbing head under it, he couldn't help but feel like it happened before. A time so distant, so long ago… Maybe it was at his first centuries and one of the grateful children hugged him?

_"Thank ye, Da! Oh, thank ye, thank ye, thank ye! I luv ye so much." _His head was starting to hurt.

Pitch glanced at her hair and attempted to lightly pat her head, "It's…nothing."

She pulled away, much to his displeasure, and gave him a grin. She hurried to the horse, "Whit's her name mean?"

Pitch blinked, trying to bring himself back to focus. He glanced at the horse, Gerlinde, who was happily mussing with Willow's hair, the girl offered the horse a smile, "It means 'Of the weak spear'."

Willow frowned, "That's nae a very nice name, it sounds more like an insult."

"Yes, you see, she was the weakest of my troupe." He explained as he ran his fingers through his favorite horse's mane.

Willow turned back to her new companion, "Well, now she's gotta new name. Wispioni."

The horse, now called Wispioni, whinnied in delight and ran in a circle around her new master. Willow giggled as she scratched its nose, "Look at you, so precious, so full o'hope. Why, there's onl' ane bit missin'…a touch o' guidance…" she said softly as her finger glowed blue, she brought her glowing fingers to the horse's black forehead and kept them there. Light blue spread from her fingertips, changing the black to glowing blue. It traveled around the horse in soft, magical tendrils, coloring its body light blue and stopping midway in its tail, creating a fantastic effect of blue and black tendrils like its mane. Its eyes changed from the ghastly yellow to white, with a thin circle of black that slowly merged to blue around each eye. The blue traveled to its legs and merged slowly to black at the middle. Willow removed her fingers, in their place was a swirly shape of black.

Pitch was sure his mouth was open now.

She giggled when she noticed him staring, "Now _that_ neva' gets old."

Pitch blinked, he swore he felt a sense of déjà vu.

"Oh," she stroked the side of its face, "What a _pretty_ mare yew ar, oh, yes!"

Wispioni neighed and walked around the room, many of the horses ran to their sister, wanting to see her new look. Even Onyx was staring at her.

Willowiana glided with ecstasy and did a few loop the loop while giggling.

Pitch couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes, "Get back down here, girl."

" 'Ave a name, min." She retorted.

Pitch rolled his eyes, "You are such…a child."

She opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a loud whine of a horse. The Nightmares were all whining and neighing and beating the ground in panic. In the middle was a lone Wisp, humming in fear, trying to escape the panicking horses.

Willow's eyes widened and she dove in the middle, grabbed the little Wisp in her hand and hummed quietly, "Shhh…it's alright, wee an, yer alricht." She watched idly as Pitch pulled the Nightmares away.

"It would do you good if you stop bringing your little friends here, unless you have a death sentence." Pitch warned.

Immediately, Willow kissed the top of the Wisp's head and made it disappear.

After an awkward silence, Pitch grabbed Onyx's mane and led her towards the tunnel's entrance.

Willow looked up from the ground, "Where ar ye gauin'?"

"For a bit of air." He answered in his usual monotonous voice.

"Ye dew kno'it's still sunny out?" she asked as she fixed one of the blue ribbons intertwined with her thick hair.

"Yes." He said flatly.

"And that yer a pure dark individual?"

"Yes…"

"Try an' put twa an'twa together."

He glanced at her, "The sun doesn't affect me, I'm not a vampire."

She got up and walked to the only blue horse in the room, "Weeeell…yer teeth _dew_ luk like vamyre anes."

Pitch rolled his eyes and continued to head to the exit, he heard the sound of hooves beating the ground. When he turned around, he was surprised to find Wispioni staring at him, a bit jittered, and Willow in the air next to her. He scowled.

"What are you doing?"

"Um…a bit o'fresh air?" she said wryly, laughing at his expression, "Now that thaur is sumthin' that neva' _eva'_ gets auld! Oh, I dew luv ma humor, oh, yes…"

"Stop following me." He hissed and was about to go through the tunnel when he noticed Onyx wasn't with him anymore. He turned around and found a large…flying picture of a serene forest. "What is that?" he asked.

"I said I was gauin' for fresh air, didn't I?" she said, "Ye should go thaur, it's pure lovely!"

Pitch glanced at his horse and then at the tunnel, "Fine."

Willow's eyes gleamed with happiness, she let Wispioni go through, after that Onyx, and then she gave a very ceremonial bow, "After yew."

He raised a brow, "Whatever happened to 'ladies first'?"

"I need t'go through last, otherwise it'll seal with ye still haur." She explained. Pitch complied and went through, a bit surprised the picture didn't become dark and tainted. But what bewildered him more was the fact that he just…

"It's ma way o'teleporting." She said as she hopped through, the picture disappeared behind her, "How else dew ye think I manage t'jump 'raund tha' werld in onl' a few minutes?" Willow asked before flying into the treetops, a trail of Wisps started to appear. The sound of laughter was heard and two little children ran by…

…right through Pitch and his horse.

The mare flared in fear, she kicked her front legs in the air and whinnies loudly, Pitch dodged just in time, "Whoa! Hey, easy, girl. Easy."

Onyx stops, but she neighs a question to her master, the fear was quite visible in her eyes.

"We're not believed in." he stated simply before walking after the children, he glanced over his shoulder with a pointed finger, "Stay."

Onyx stood still, near her blue sister.

"Good girl." Pitch walked into the forest.

He looked around, trees, trees, more trees, the place looked so…familiar. It struck a very faint bell but for the life of him he couldn't remember. He touched a leaf, surprised it didn't shrivel and die. However, he couldn't find the long haired girl.

"Willow?" but he didn't get an answer.

"Shh!" he heard, he looked up and found the Will-o'-the-Wisps hiding in the treetops, "Whit ar ye doin'? Git off tha' ground!"

He crossed his arms, "You _do_ know I'm invisible to just about everyone?"

She huffed and waved some Wisps at him, they pulled at his coat and hair until he stumbled in a bush. The other Wisps in a trail were starting to hum faster, luring the children with their sweet voices. Willow's eyes grew wide with excitement as she heard the children's laughter.

They were both running, trying to catch the Wisps, but failed as the glowing blue orbs disappeared as soon as their hands came close. Soon, the two children were getting closer to the river. Strangely, there was a trail over the river, as if the children were going to go over an invisible bridge.

"Are you trying to drown those children?" Pitch hissed.

She gave him a confused expression, "Drown…?"

He pointed to the river.

Willow followed his finger and saw the children getting closer to the river, "Oh, jings!" she whispered and flew from her spot to get near the children. But she was still hiding in the trees and dodging every tree trunk was slowing her down. She was never going to get there in time and save the two children.

Pitch noticed, and on instinct, his black sand flew from his fingertips to create a bridge, just as soon as the children were about to step in the river.

The girl stopped flying and glanced at him with a smile.

Pitch pretended to not notice and went back to where their horses were.

She lingered a moment longer, watching a man, whom she assumed to be their father, run to the two redheaded boys and gather them in his arms. Willow sighed and had a sad smile as she stared at her necklace in her hand, a tear escaped her and landed on the necklace. "I miss ye, Da…I miss ye a lot. _Mi caill sibh, Dadaidh_."

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary:**

bubblin': weeping

tontine face: a face distorted as a result of being glum

Ya beauty: an exclamation of delight and approval

Jings: an exclamation

* * *

**Thaur ye go, ma' readers! Ahem, sorry, forgot to switch accents there :P...Anywho...**

**I'm sure I made MiM soo OOC, right? I know!**

**Now you must have your minds whirring; what did Pitch mean when he said 'I was the Spirit of Courage'? What the...? And if Pitch was never in charge of the Fearlings, then who was? Well, fear not, for the answer will be in the next chapter.**

**So, for the next guessing game (which I seem to be failing a bit at), I'd like you to try and guess the last words Willow said, 'kay? First one will have their story of their choice posted on my profile (after i read it, of course) for more attention.**

**I'd just like to say that a big part of Willow's character comes from Mother Nature, I read a few fanfics with Mother Nature in them and they were very good.**

**My fanfic does not have the 'Pitch was once Pitchiner but then he turned evil on another planet' thing, he was a normal, Scottish man who grew up in England, or London (hence the accent), got married, had a child, and died to be resurrected as a spirit. However, the back story of Bunny, Sandy, and North, I could care less...**

**Hey, I'm thinking about making another RotG fanfic about Tooth's mortal life, and a series of drabbles after I finish this one.**

**You know the drill people, 5 revs=new chapter. First to guess in the competition will get a prize.**


	4. Chapter 4: Awkward Silence

**Finally! I managed to post this! I know, I know, I'm late, but lot's of stuff got in the way and...you can place most of the blame on the fanfictions of RotG I've been reading. CURSE YOU WONDERFUL RotG FANFICTION AUTHORS! Seriously, I've seen so many wonderful stories, so anyone whose reading this and has a RotG fanfic just know that this is what would've been a review, but so much typing made my fingers sore XD**

**Anywho...I just want to say how grateful I am for the reviews you all gave me. One day, I was like "here I am gonna wait for the reviews to come over the course of a week", next day, I have five new reviews and new faves and follows. THANK YOU ALL, I'M SO HONORED!**

**Remember that contest I had in the last chapter? The one where you had to guess what the last words Willow said in Gaelic? Well, the winner was:**

***drumroll* (no, that's not the winner :P)**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**TweedleDee29**

***crowd cheers* YAAAAAA! *crowd chants TweedleDee29's name* TweedleDee29! TweedleDee29! TweedleDee29!**

**the answer was "I miss you, Daddy."**

**Ok, one last bit, OC alert! I've got an OC here that will be a main character, so...yeah...**

**Alright, NOW you can start reading...**

* * *

Chapter 4: Awkward Silence

* * *

As soon as Pitch mounted on his horse, Willow appeared from the treetops and into the wide grassy field, looking very upset. Pitch had half a mind to ask what was wrong, but the idea sounded so…alien, he decided against it.

She struggled a bit to mount onto her horse and ran a hand through her blue horse's blue and black mane.

He watched her, the way her legs were stiff and she was getting a bit sweaty, "You _do_ know how to ride a horse, don't you?" he asked with a raised brow.

She glanced at him, "Uh…ehehe…well, I did, when I was mortal. Ye-…someone…taucht meh…" she lowered her eyes.

Pitch got his horse to go in a trot, "You don't even know how to give orders to a horse?"

"Nae! O'course I dew!" she protested, "Just a bit…rusty…" she watched how the Nightmare King managed to get his horse to move, she copied him, gripping tightly to her horse's mane.

"Don't be nervous, it only riles them up more. They smell fear, you know." He said over his shoulder.

"Am nae afraid!" she protested, Pitch could only laugh.

"Oh, really? Then what that feeling in the air? It's certainly not _my_ fear." He humored.

Willow frowned and stroked Wispioni's mane as she trotted slowly.

Pitch started to go faster, Willow noticed and felt her heart beat faster.

"Wait, wait, wait! Yer nae gonna leave meh, ar ye?" she asked with a bit of panic.

He gave her a sideways glance, "Why would you care?"

Her horse stopped moving and it tried to glance at its new master, who was fumbling with her hands again as her face cloaked with her hair. She said in such a small voice, he had to get closer to hear her, "I…I'm scared."

This girl never failed to make him baffled, he blinked and glanced sideways, "And you're asking the _Nightmare King_ to keep you company? The _Boogieman_?"

She glanced at him, "Well, ye said that ye were tha' Spirit o'Coorage…ance."

"Those days are long gone." He looked at her again and sighed, he ground his heels in Onyx's sides, making her go faster.

Willow let out a cry before clamping her hands on her mouth, she sounded like a whiny child. She leaned down and whispered in Wispioni's ear, "Let's get closer t'yer sister?" she patted its side and the horse went a bit faster. Willow grasped onto its neck, "Easy, Wispy! 'Aven't remembered all ma tricks yet."

The blue mare neighed in response.

Willow frowned, "It's nae like I'll gain ma ridin' skills ova'nicht!" She watched Pitch's back as he was steadily going faster, "Still…it's werth a try…" she dug her heels in the horse's stomach, "Come on, lassie."

Wispioni stared to go, first a simple trot, then a light run, until she was going full speed.

"Ahh! Wispy! I'll fall." Willow cried.

The horse let out a neigh.

Willow relaxed a bit, the horse wouldn't allow her to fall. She took in a deep breath over the wind rushing in her face and closed her eyes, "Is alricht, Will, yew can dew this." She remembered the riding lessons her father had given her, from the time she was ten and in less than half a year she had perfected her skills to such an extent, she could beat a well-trained rider. The spirit's eyes flung open with not a hint of fear, only determination, as she leaned down, "Let's beat him, shall weh?"

Wispioni could only whinny in delight.

It had been a long while since he had ridden his trustworthy mare just for the fun of it, a very long while. But it still didn't mean he hadn't at all, he was just a bit rusty with his skills, he was still scratching the surface of them.

The beating of hooves became heard behind him, Pitch glanced over his shoulder.

"Hello, Pitch!" Willow called happily.

"You don't really think you can beat me in my own game, do you?" he asked smugly.

She shrugged as she became on the same level as him, "I dinna kin, but I used t'whin I was mortal." Her face lowered, "Yew were tha'ane who taught me how t'beat ye, anyways."

Pitch gave her a confused expression.

"Ooh, luk at tha'time, I must be a leavin'." She waved her hand in a lady fashion and called, "Cheerio, Pitch! Oh, an'it seems 'ave beaten yew in yer own game!"

She went in front of him by a good few meters, all he could see was her flying waistcoat and very long, thick, black tresses in the wind.

Willow laughed, "We did it, Wispy! We beat him at his own game!" She blinked her eyes, she loved this feeling, the feeling of the wind in her face. Although this happens a lot when she flies, she never truly appreciates it. She felt sorry for those who had the inability to fly, they were truly missing a great experience. She snapped her head at the side when she heard a throaty chuckle.

Pitch gave her a sideways glance and a very smug smile, "Now what were you saying, dear?"

"Bludy show-aff." She muttered.

Pitch threw his head back in a laugh and leaned forward, Onyx kept going faster.

Willow looked at Wispioni's mane, and then her hands. Slowly, slowly, she relaxed her fingers until she was holding onto nothing. A very wide grin broke on her face, she turned her head sideways, "Pitch?"

He glanced at her, "What?"

She brought both of her arms behind her back, "Nae hands." She sing songed.

Pitch rolled his eyes, "That's all you can do?" he turn to the side, Willow followed him, and they headed towards the forest.

Willow gulped, "Thaur ar auwfully a muckle bit o' obstacles in thaur, Da."

He smirked, "The perfect challenge." He glanced at her, "And it's Pitch, _Iana_."

Willow frowned, "It's Willow, Iana is fer tha' lord and lady muck!"

"I don't know what that means, but I take it is an insult?"

"T'all who put on air an'graces." She said, staring at the nearing forest.

Onyx leaped, Wispioni was right at her heals, Willow plastered herself onto the blue horse's back. Pitch did not even try to hold back a snicker. She looked around her forest, breathing in the beautiful, familiar smell of its trees, flowers, soil, and fresh air. She could make out Onyx's back between the trees. Suddenly, she got an idea, she whispered in the mare's ear, "Ye kno', ye can try usin' yer auld powers."

The horse's ears perked up, Willow just stared onwards innocently. The girl lifted off the horse as Wispioni slowly transformed to dark blue mixed with black sand with hallow eyes and left the shadow of a horse. Willow got on its back and the both sped as fast as the wind. As soon as she made it behind Pitch, Wispioni transformed back to her horse form, Willow patted her, "Gaud girl, Wispy." She grabbed an apple hanging from a branch and offered it to the horse, to which it accepted greatly.

Willow looked up to find her father not even paying attention to keeping balance on his horse as he shot multiple arrows to very odd places. A leaf, another apple, a bird…But what struck her speechless was the fact that he hit the center every time.

"Oh…losh…" she said.

Pitch smirked at her just as he dodged a branch and shot another black sand arrow.

Willow wasn't paying attention, and so only noticed the branch when it was too late. She spit out the leaves and grimaced, she wasn't planning on eating greens anytime soon.

The man in front of her, of course, was laughing, "Since when were you an herbivore?"

She rolled her eyes, a Wisp suddenly appeared and hummed something to her, Willow's face lightened up and she squealed excitedly, "Oh! They must be lucky!" she let out an excited laugh, Pitch raised a brow. "A poor family's youngest an's gonna find 'em their pot o'gauld!" she explained as she dug her heels in Wispioni's sides, urging the horse to go faster. Soon, Willow let out a whistle and lowered as much as she could to the side of her horse; Wisps sprung from her hand at her command and created a trail. "Three…twa…ane…" In no time, the bubbling laughter of a child was heard and both of them looked behind them, a little, thin girl in rags was running after the Wisps with her arms outstretched.

"Oh, she's so cute!" Willow cooed, "Would ye leuk at her barry, bonnie heid o'hair!"

Pitch frowned, "_Ahem_." He said sarcastically.

Willow looked at him with a deadpanned expression, she said in a drawled, monotonous voice, "She has a splendaid, beautiful haed o…f hair."

The little girl looked up and stared with a jaw-dropped expression, "Willy-o'-tha'-Wispies!"

Willow smiled.

Despite how…heartwarming the exchange was, Pitch just turned around and looked forward, he could feel a bit of envy in his heart…he wasn't, and might not ever, be seen.

"An' a Cunning Min?" the child gasped.

Pitch snapped his head to the child, "…what?"

Willow grinned, "It's alright, yung an, he donna bite." She turned to the child and held out a hand, "Come on, wee an, I'll lead ye t'sumthin' wonderful."

The girl hesitated before grasping onto the Will-o'-the-Wisp's hand and was pulled onto the horse.

Pitch glanced at the little girl, she was no older than Jamie if not younger. Her long, blonde hair was a bit tangled and dirty, plaited together to keep out of her eyes, but it wasn't really helping for the girl's overgrown bangs were in her bright, green eyes.

"Can ye make a spaell?"

Pitch blinked, "What?"

"Dew a spaell, 'cause yer a Cunning Min." the little girl said.

Pitch rolled his eyes, "I'm not a wizard."

The girl cocked her head at the side, "Ar ye a tall elf?"

Willow giggled and covered her mouth.

"N-No."

"Ar ye a faerie?"

Pitch scowled when Willow did not try to calm her guffaws. "Do I _look_ like a faerie to you, child?"

The girl's brows furrowed in concentration, "Then…a pixie?"

A face palm was inevitable at this point, "I'm not any of those, alright?"

"Whit ar ye, then?"

Pitch glanced at Willow before looking back at the girl, "I am the Boogieman."

The girl instantly frowned, "But ye donna leuk like tha' Baugiemin."

"Jus' call him Pitch, lassie." Willow said over her shoulder, "He's nae really tha' Baugieman, he's jus' jokin' with ye."

The Nightmare King rolled his eyes and huffed.

Soon, Willow came to a sudden stop and jumped off the horse, took the girl and led her by the hand. She stopped when she noticed Pitch wasn't following.

"Umm…Da? Pitch?"

"What?"

She gestured with head, "Come on! We might need yer sand."

He folded his arms, "No, you'll be fine without me, I only bring fear, and fear is painful for me, remember?"

"Nae! This here lass is as brave as Princess Merida o' DunBroch." Willow said as she tussled the little one's hair playfully, "She'll bring ye nae harm."

Pitch watched her for a moment, Willow grew her eyes pleadingly and clasped her hands together.

"Please, Da?" she said in the most child like voice she could muster.

Well, there was no harm in leading a young child to her family's hope, right? Hope...oh god, how he hated that overgrown rabbit! No, calm, he was going to stay calm, he was _not_ going to crush the nearest thing that reminded him of his recent defeat. He was a calm, blue sky, he was…he was a cool breeze, a nice, soft, soothing-

"Pitchy?"

He blinked and looked at them.

"Ye…uh…zoned out thaur a bit…" Willow said awkwardly.

Five seconds passed, but it seemed like five centuries.

"Well," Willow said suddenly as she spun on her heel, "I'll taek yer silence as an 'aye'. Come on, wee lass, let's find yer treasure!"

"Wait, I wasn't-" Pitch started.

But the little one was already skipping after the Mistress of the Wisps, who was leading a trail of Wisps.

The Nightmare King rolled his eyes and got off his trusted mare before walking slowly after the pair.

"Ar ye a faerie? Can ye fly? Whaur ar ye wings? Dew ye kno' Tinkar Baell? Is she yer sister? Is Petar Pan real? Can ye make meh fly? Hey, whit's-"

The little girl went on, question after another, nonstop, as she jumped giddily up and down. Willow smiled and tried to answer, well, most of them. Pitch was at least a meter or two away, staying in the shadows. If this young one could see him, what if there were more? He knew he wanted to be believed in, but in all honesty, he very much didn't want to be _feared_…

Willow stopped walking and shushed the young girl, who was looking up expectantly to the spirit of Guidance. Willow smiled, "Well then, whit's that over thaur?"

The girl turned around and gasped, a trail of Wisps led to an odd looking mound on the ground. She giggled and started to run after the Wisps, stopping short of the mound. Her small fingers poked at it, scratching a bit in one place, Willow and Pitch had taken to hiding. Suddenly, the young girl gasped, hidden in the mound was a chest, a small, rusted lock hung at the front. She started to dig quickly, throwing away the dirt until she uncovered the chest. It was heavy and the sound of sliding metal could be heard inside. The girl started to laugh and jump excitedly.

"Aw! I donna think 'ave seen ye smile like that fer a _long_ time!"

Pitch looked to his side and found Willow grinning, barely containing her happiness, he frowned, "No, I wasn't smiling."

"Nae, ye were, I saw it, ye were happy, weren't ye? Seeing tha' wee child light up, hmm? Come on, jus' admit it."

"I wasn't happy." He said flatly.

Willow rolled her eyes, "I saw, Da-"

"_Pitch_."

"-I saw yer smile, I saw ye happy. Why, I saw the shadows 'round ye loosen up, a bit." She persisted.

He let out an irritated huff, "I was just…thinking wistful thoughts."

She raised a brow, "Wistful thoughts? Or sax centuries ago memories?" she said before gliding from their hiding place and joining the girl, who was looking around for her.

Pitch watched her back for a moment, she was right, he _had_ been think of his first centuries as the Spirit of Courage. Why had he quit his job? Curing fears within children instead of whisking them away? He had thrown away all that just for the sake of revenge? He remembered, everyday, a child who had overcome their fears and became stronger was just more proof of how much his job was worth it. Every child who stood up to their fears in the face was another Nightmare born to help another child fight off their fears. But then, Manny chose his Guardians and they ruined it! It seemed no one explained anything to them and they certainly didn't want an explanation from a tall, dark clad man who rode the Nightmares of children, oh no, he was evil, oh, they should defeat him! He tried to show his work to them, how everything _should_ work, but it only made things worse; oh, how could he make those children face their fears?! The children should be protected! Their fears must be taken away! They shouldn't be subjected to such horrible, horrible things!

It didn't take him long to figure out he was gritting his teeth in anger and clenching his hands; what he had lost after their great battle was his friend, his only friend, and the trust of everyone that ever knew him! That traitorous, sandy man had turned his back and left him, instead joining the other three Guardians! All the other spirits hated him, even Mother Nature! She had been his second closest friend! She had been known to take no sides, and indeed she hadn't taken any sides, but she gave him the cold shoulder ever since.

So what was left for him to do other than revenge?

He shook his head, no, he thought as he got up and walked towards the two girls, he was going to stop his wallowing. He was going to stop right now.

Willow looked up and offered a smile, "Ye done thinking?"

Pitch rolled his eyes (he seemed to be doing that a lot, ever since she showed up) and leaned against a tree. He watched the little girl dig at the chest quickly, probably to show it to her parents, yep, she did seem like Jamie a lot.

He snapped his head up when he heard a scream, the girl was pointing to the opposite shadowed area in the trees, frozen. Willow came to the girl's side.

"Whit's wrong, lassie?"

"B-b-be…bear…" she rasped, "I swatched a bear…"

Willow glanced at the direction the young girl pointed at, "Thaur's nothing in tha' shadows, Hen, 'tis trees an' grass."

The young girl was shaking and clasped onto the Wisps' Mistress's hand, "A…bear…"

"But thaur aren't any bears…in tha…forest…" Willow said hesitantly as she looked where the little one was pointing. A shadow flitted by them, Willow gasped and pulled the girl away, making them both fall away.

Pitch narrowed his eyes, there weren't supposed to be any bears in the forest, right? Then why did he see the silhouette of a large creature with glowing eyes? Oh no, wait, it wasn't just one, they were many! The bears started to advance forward, filling the air with the young girl's fear. He walked a few steps forward, despite the amount of fear there was in the air, and prepared his scythe.

"Thaur arenna supposed to be any bears in tha forest!" Willow whispered, " 'Ave been livin' haur fer 'bout a millennia an'ave neva' seen anything larger than a squirrel!"

"They're not normal bears." He said, his eyes widened as the first one came into view, "They're Fearlings!"

Willow's eyes widened in panic, she scrambled with the child to the trees and hid her well, she kept a few Wisps for safety before returning next to her father. A dagger was pulled out of her pocket and she took her stance. "Why ar they haur now?"

"They're the girl's worst fears, they're trying to bring forth a new Fearling."

"A new Fearling? Why?"

"That is beyond me."

The Fearling bears started to advance faster, the two spirits wasted no time in charging back. Despite it being at least two centuries since she truly fought, Willow was surprised she didn't forget any of her moves with her dagger. The long, thin, black blade sliced every Fearling that came her way, her fingers did not even loosen from the blue hilt in hesitation.

Pitch's sand took on many forms of nearly every weapon in existence. Daggers, swords, bows, arrows, the yo-yo (nope, just kidding with that :P) took down more Fearlings than he could count, but it seemed that they were multiplying, for everyone he took down three or four took its place.

"They'll not stop with her fear." He told Willow.

"Then how dew we get her t'sto-…" she gave him a grin, a mischievous grin.

Pitch gulped, "I don't like that look of yours."

Willow suddenly shot in the air, she quickly opened many Looking Hole Wisps and gathered a few of her Wisps before closing them and shooting back down. She led her Wisps while flying close to the ground, taking out the Fearlings in blue flashes. The Wisps started to whiz around the temporary battlefield as their leader stopped before Pitch, "Go on now! 'Ave got this covered."

Pitch blinked, "You want me to…"

She nodded, "Ye were tha' Spirit o'-"

"I get it, I get it, but the keyword here-" he let out a burst of black sand towards an incoming Fearling, "-is 'was'. I am now one who brings fear."

Willow huffed and grabbed his hand before stalking towards the girl, "Yet, ye detest tha' fear." She stopped at the girl and waved her hands at him, "Now shoo, ma' Wisps need backup." She flew in the air, did an elaborated flip before letting herself go and fall _into the middle of the Fearlings_.

Pitch growled, "Stubborn girl." His eyes flitted behind him, the girl was cowering, holding her knees and watching the Fearling bears with wide, wet eye. He took a deep breath and turned around, trying to remember his old ways. He sat next to the young girl, she looked up.

Pitch sent a stream of black sand at her, it hit where her heart was, allowing him to see her fears. She had many, for a girl no older than ten, so many they were a bit distressing. Brushing them aside, the Nightmare King finally found the largest one of all, it was a big, black blob, bigger than the other ones. Taking a deep breath, Pitch started to take from it, another ball started to form next to him, getting steadily bigger as he tried to take away from the fear. Finally, when the he had taken a reasonable amount of her fear, he snapped his fingers and the black sand was gone, along with the black orb. He quickly grabbed her shoulders, "Tell me, do you still fear bears?"

She blinked, "Onl' if they try t'kill me." She said innocently.

He let go slowly of her shoulders and looked down at his grey hands; if he didn't know any better, he'd say they looked a tad bit brighter, as if the shadows that always clung to his skin lessened a bit. He rubbed his fingers together and it seemed as though the shadows were falling off like powder.

His head snapped behind him when he heard a shrill "Eep!" Willow was under two or three Fearling bears that were trying to claw at her, but her dagger managed to slice at them before they had a chance to sink their claws or teeth in her. She hovered in the air with her knees tucked under her, eyeing the beasts with worry. Suddenly, both spirits froze in fear as the girl ran towards the bears. She got close to the largest one and stared it straight in the eye, " 'Ave nae fear o'ye, yer nae real."

The bear let out a loud shriek before convulsing and twisting as the others do so as well, they started to dissipate slowly, until there was not a single shadowed being left.

Willow glanced at the ground, stunned to see as though the Fearlings never came. But when she looked up at Pitch, a large smile broke on her face, "Still 'was'?"

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

lord and lady muck: one who puts on airs and graces

losh: lord

barry: splendid

bonnie: beautiful

heid: head

Cunning Min: wizard

Sax: six

Swatched: saw

Hen: a friendly way of addressing a girl or a woman, often when you don't know their name

* * *

Snowflakes were falling from the sky, each doing elaborated twirls before daintily landing on the ground. They covered the bland, grassless ground or placed themselves over the dull patches of brown, spiky grass. They clothed the trees in their winter coats. They landed on the tips of children's noses and made them see a new opportunity to play.

Soft, cool, crispy breezes guided the little ones to their places, Jack was going to fall asleep from so much boredom. He had to wait until the snowflakes created a large enough carpet for snowball fights, snow angels, and forts; he couldn't just dump a load of snow on the ground or else the adults will start wondering where it came from. Also, the snowflakes were an immense help in waking the winter fun in the children.

He tapped his staff onto trees and created swirly designs as he flew lazily around the forest. Suddenly, a gust of wind hit him full force, knocking him a few meters backwards.

The winter spirit pulled himself up without the tiniest bit of anger or annoyance; he knew this was her game, "Hey, Wendy. What's up?"

She was excited, she blew around him: _Nightmare King. Mistress of the Wisps. Fearlings. Fight. Child. Believe. Good._

Jack chuckled as she flew around him, "So, you saw…Pitch and Will…fighting because a child was believing Will?"

The Wind blew in denial: _No. Nightmare King __and__ Mistress of the Wisps. Fighting. Fearlings. Child. Believe. Good._

Jack frowned in concentration, "Pitch was fighting Will with his Fearlings because…a child believed in good?"

She blew even more furiously: _Jack, no. Please try and understand!_ What was wrong with him?

His eyes widened, "Pitch's attacking Will!" he cried before jumping into the air and flew towards the forest that was in a land an ocean away.

She sighed and watched him with wide, silver eyes; why couldn't he fully understand her?

* * *

It took him not much time to get to his destination, and as soon as he was in Scotland, he whizzed to his friend's forest. "Will?" he called, but he didn't see a small figure with more hair than she knew what to do with. Sure, a few Wisps here and there, darting to random directions, but that was all he saw, he even followed one and it just got him even more lost.

Jack huffed and plopped on the ground; the bushes near him had a sudden coating of frost and the bark he was leaning against frosted over like his staff. This was so hard, where was his friend?

The sound of humming was heard and he snapped his head as he watched a Wisp fly pass him, he held out his hand but the Wisp passed right through, the same way it did through other objects. It seemed to realize it went through something because it stopped flying and turned what looked like a head to the winter spirit. It came closer and hummed a greeting.

"Hey, uh, where's Will?"

It blinked its very pale and almost invisible white eyes before starting to let out a series of hums and sighs, creating a long, soft, wordless lullaby.

Jack held up a hand casually, "Yeah, thanks, but I don't speak Wisp."

The Wisp gave him a deadpan and pointed with its wispy arm to the left, which was the exit, and where he just came from. Jack snapped his head in that direction and watched the Wisp fly, but just as he was about to follow it, he heard a neigh, feet walking, and two voices talking. And strangely, they both sounded familiar; so naturally, Jack abandoned the Wisp (who would only realize Jack was gone in another hour or…two) in favor of seeing the mysterious (and familiar people).

He flew to the treetops and tried to see through the leaves, but it was as if the trees wanted to hide the people. Jack huffed and moved a particular branch, making it rustle a little too loudly and he froze; the two people froze and were quiet except for the occasional whisper. Suddenly, the branch flew from his fingers to its original position and whacked him in the face. Jack let out a cry and in shock, forgot about his ability to fly, and plummeted to the ground. There was a bit of commotion before he landed with someone letting out a yell and bushes rustling.

Jack hopped back up and looked around before noticing Willow's frozen form staring at him; he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "Hey…Wills."

She nodded, "Jacks."

_Awkward silence._

_More awkward silence._

_Even more awkward silence._

_Wow…I just too a look and whaddya know? Awkward silence._

_Alright, everyone say it with me: __Awkward silence!__**Awkward silence!**__**Awkward silence!**__ *makes random noises*_

_After looking at those two words so much they're starting to look like I got them from another language…or that I just kept jamming random letters *awkward silence*_

Well, after much unexpected awkward silence (alright, seriously? I forgot what they mean now!) Jack cleared his throat awk- I mean, untimely-…ly, "Um…Wen-Wind told me you were…attacked."

Willow sighed -_insert another word other than 'awkward' here_- "Aye…Fearlin', but they're gone now."

Jack glanced at her; her long, thick hair was slightly disheveled with the neat ribbons messily intertwined with strands of black ebony. Her long waistcoat was opened up a bit more than usual, revealing the black shirt she was wearing under, and a few beads of sweat scattered on her pale face. Plus she looked like she wanted to sit down.

"She also told me that…uh…Pitch was there too?" Jack added hesitantly.

Willow's eyes widened, "Raelly? Ye sure?"

Jack nodded.

Willow was not making eye contact and messed with a lock of hair, "Tha'Wind told ye that…since when does Wind speak?"

"Since ages ago-…Willow, just stop changing the subject." Jack said, his hesitance gone.

The girl frowned, "Why dew ye want t'kno'?"

"Because, I told you to keep an eye out for that guy, and keeping an eye out includes reporting when you see him!"

"An' if I did?" she challenged as she adopted a suitable stance; she crossed her arms, brought her legs together, and her eyebrows lifted from her frown, "Ye'll all jus' go an'gie him a gaud beatin'?"

"We're going to make sure he's not making trouble! What do you expect us to do?"

Willow threw her hands in the air and her eyes flashed white, "So whit if I saw him?! It donna maek a difference!"

"It does!" Jack argued, "Pitch could be doing anything now whether it's giving people nightmares, or battling spirits, or plotting our downfall-"

"Or stayin' hidden ina bush." Willow mumbled.

"-whatever, we need to make sure he won't bring harm!"

Willow let out a deep sigh and collected herself, "Luk, let's calm down now an' be blunt; I was battlin' Fearlin' when I was leadin' a lass t'her family's salvaetion, an' I saw Pitch but he didn't harm meh. Theend. Ar ye happy?"

Jack blinked; was that what Wind was telling him? He lowered to the ground and glanced at his staff, "Ookay…good…I'll tell the rest of the gang and see what they make out of this." Before Willow could say anything, Jack asked, "Hey, what's with the new horse?"

Willow frowned in confusion, "Horse…?" She turned around and her eyes nearly popped out of her sockets, "Oh, mitchy me!"

Jack guffawed at her reaction, "I should scare you more often."

"That's not yer proffaesion, Snow Min." Willow retorted.

"Whatever, Rapunzel." He waved off, "So?"

"So…whit?"

"The horse!"

Willow glanced at it as though she forgot it existed, "Oh, aye, this is Wispioni."

Jack raised a brow, "Odd name, anyways, where'd you get it from?"

"Uhh…" she glanced at a bush anxiously, "A spirit…gae her t'meh…"

"Really?" Jack got closer to the horse, "Who?"

"S-someone…jus' a random person." Willow fumbled with a stray ribbon.

Jack shrugged, "Well, alright, she's not bad actually." He commented as he scratched the horse's blue face, "Can I ride her one day?"

Willow shrugged, "O'course, when I'm nae busy…"

"Alright!" Jack did a backflip (remember the one he did in Jamie's room when Jamie believed in him? Yep, that one) excitedly, "I gotta go now, some part in Britain calls for a snowday, but I'll come later for my ride, 'kay?" he called as he flew into the air.

"Aye…" she whispered in relief. Thank god he didn't notice the grainy texture of her horse's mane and lower legs.

A throat clearing brought back her attention.

* * *

**...**

**...**

**Awkward Silence**

**Hehe, I'm sure y'all hate those two words now. My bad.**

**So, what do you guys think of my second OC? I'll reveal her name in the next chapter, when her family uses the treasure she found and stop being poor.**

**I really, really love horses, although I don't train riding one. They're so elegant and...and...I dunno, regal might be a nice word. I also was fascinated how Pitch rode a horse AND acknowledges it, most villains aren't like that in my opinion. So naturally, my love for horses+ Pitch rides one+ Willow was taught by her father+ Willow wants to bring back Pitch's memories= the riding scene.**

**Aaaand, there I go putting Brave in my story again. I really love that movie!**

**I know, Pitch removing her fear was so unoriginal, but I couldn't get a proper idea. I was planning that he would give her a quick nightmare and the girl would wake up without her fear; but it wasn't right for him to just put her to sleep randomly and she wouldn't just wake up fearless. Don't worry, Pitch has more abilities up his sleeve for instilling courage.**

**So, as usual, 5 revs for the next chapter and I should go get it ready instead of rambling here...**


	5. Chapter 5: Get on the Horse

***Wipes away tear* really? 22 reviews just for me? I'M SO HONORED! *bawls***

**So just a bit of a heads up for Willow's fans, this chapter doesn't have all Willow (and consequently, not a lot of her colorful vocabulary which has started to affect my speech at home), it's more about The Gu-...*waves hand dismissively* nah, I'll let y'all read and see.**

**I'd just like to thank bloodysword99, seriously FOUR reviews at once! Thanks so much!and Willow would like to say to all the reviewers:**

**Thank ye all a muckle bit, wuldn't 'ave been able t'continue without yer support! (alright, now GET OFF MY LAPTOP WILLOW!)**

**Edit: Oh! I forgot! Whoever wants to see how Willow looks, I've drawn a picture of her and posted on my profile. You've gotta check it out, Willow fans!**

***Readjusts self* anywho, let's get on with reading this! Come on! Chop, Chop!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Get on the Horse

* * *

When North called a meeting, he always waited for his companions to come by trying to predict who came first. Sandy would most probably come first, the Sandman was always a gentleman, despite his crucial job. Tooth would be next, either from her castle or from visiting a lucky child; but then she'd just start sending her fairies to different parts of the globe until the meeting started. Bunny would try to be as late as possible without technically being late since he hated the cold. As for Jack…

Cold air blew one of the windows open, bringing snowflakes and a certain white haired boy.

Bunny looked up at the sudden descent of temperature, "You're early, mate."

At any other time, Jack would've retorted with a humorous comment, but this time he said to anyone who was listening, "Someone saw Pitch."

The four Guardians froze, staring at the winter sprite, in utter silence. If not for the occasional elves that walked in with their bells, a pin could've been heard. Even the few fairies with Tooth were quiet.

"Who?" North asked quietly.

"Willow." Jack murmured.

"I thought we trapped the shadow rat in his hole." Bunny said, "Unless some drongo decided to dig a hole and jus' so happened t'be Pitch's lair entrance."

Tooth's wings started to flutter worriedly, "Oh no! What if he's giving more people nightmares? Or attacking spirits? Or capturing my fairies?"

"Vhen did she see him?" North asked.

Jack scratched the back of his neck, "Today…on my rounds in Europe."

The former bandit nodded, "Good, bring her here tomorrow, ve must ask her point of view."

Sandy sighed and looked out the window longingly; whatever happened to the days he and Pitch were friends?

* * *

At the moment, the Nightmare King was walking in the streets of London, watching windows darken as the humans started to go to retire after a day's work. Well, it was more like he was trying to stay away from his Nightmares, who kept flying into windows; a few minutes later, he could hear sobs, whimpers, and once in a while a scream.

A few nightmares passed by him; Pitch scowled and they dissolved into sand from fright. The sand wafted around his hand as he swirled it lazily. He looked around at the buildings until a thought came to mind. He went through a shadow and appeared in child's room. The child let out a small sound and turned, Pitch froze in place for a good ten minutes until he was sure the child wasn't going to jump out of bed and scream "BOOGIEMAN!" He walked slowly, slowly towards the bed until he was right next to it. A little Nightmare was happily trotting about the child's head, leaving trails of black sand. Pitch scowled and hissed, "Begone." While waving a hand. The mare let out a neigh of fear and dissolved into sand, Pitch let out a gasp and his eyes widened. Dark things that could only be shadows flew from the sand and out of the window with a sickening screech. The child bolted in bed, panting, and looked around his room. He then relaxed and let out a breath of relief.

"Just a dream, nothing more." The child whispered, "No one's coming to kidnap you- OHMYGOSH!" the child shrieked whilst shot up and tumbled from his bed. His head peaked up a moment later with wide eyes eyeing the dark man at his bed. As soon as he stood up and was about to let something out of his mouth, Pitch shot an arrow of black sand to the child's heart. The child's eyes rolled back and he flopped face-first on his bed, fast asleep. Slowly, Pitch crafted a nightmare with his sand, being sure to keep an eye out for any Fearlings that would taint his dark dreams.

_He was in his room now, with no golden eyed men watching him like a cat, but he was frozen stiff, eyeing the shadows as though they were hungry lions. He didn't dare loosen his arms from his folded knees or let out a sound as something moved in his peripheral vision, he had a faint glimmer of hope that the thing in the shadows didn't see him and would jump out the window. He hoped it was the Tooth fairy, here to collect teeth, but he didn't lose any teeth, nor did his older brother. He hoped it was Santa or one of his elves leaving gifts, but it wasn't Christmas yet, and it certainly wasn't Easter for the thing to be the Easter Bunny._

"_You must be deathly afraid, right now," an echoing, smooth voice said, coming from no designated spot, "Are you not? Something is hiding in the shadows, probably a thief or a murderer, ready to harm you just like they did to the girl in that book…"_

"_Wh-who are you?" the boy whimpered._

"_Me? I'm not the one you should be concerned of at the moment, there are more pressing matters for you, young man."_

_The boy was about to respond but let out a small gasp when something moved again in the shadows._

_The voice chuckled, "For all you know, it could be those bullies at school, sneaking in your house, ready to give you new bruises."_

_He shivered, "B-but they d-don't know wh-where I live…"_

"_Are you sure?" the voice asked, "They could've asked the teacher, or Eric; your brother's their friend, isn't he?"_

_The boy cowered even further into his covers, doubt was filling him now._

"_Maybe it's a very large spider, or centipede, or some other insect, getting closer, closer…"_

_The boy flinched when he felt an itch on his hand and flicked it several times._

_This time, the voice let out a soft laugh, "But you're still dead set on it being a kidnapper, aren't you?"_

_The boy buried his face in a pillow he was hugging, "No! No! No!"_

"_Alright, I think I've had my fun here little boy," the voice said, "For in truth, all your over-exaggerated worries are for this."_

_The boy peeked from his pillow and found his pet kitten sitting on his bed, staring at him innocently with wide, glowing eyes; he let out a sigh of relief…_

Bolting up -_again_-, the young child looked around his room, "Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream…" he murmured, then he smiled, maybe gold-eyed men who wore dresses weren't so scary after all. He found himself already in bed, with the covers tucked around him, as though he never got up -_one part of him wondered if the first time he woke up was a dream_-; maybe his parents came to check on him and found him half on the ground. The boy turned and glanced at the window before blinking tiredly and falling asleep.

Unbeknown to the child, a small, black, sandy vine was crawling up from the window, getting steadily larger and sprouting tiny flowers.

Pitch let a small smile come to his lips despite his promise to himself that he wouldn't show any joy that night and walked down the street, melding in another shadow and to repeat the cycle with another soul. Yes, he so missed this! It had been ages since he saw children smile because of his Nightmares, _his_. For so long, after so much from the Guardians, he had started to believe that he was nothing, no good; but after this night, the feeling of being appreciated replaced his doubts and just proved how wrong the Guardians were.

After his long strike of good deeds, Pitch went back to his lair, more like strolling, when he heard it.

_Well, someone seems lighter_.

Pitch scowled; that glowing rock in the sky had to ruin his cheerful…ahem, pleasant mood? "What do you want old man? Decided to warn me before your pathetic warriors come and fight me again?" he snarled.

_Alright, I take that back…_A deadpan would've suited that bit nicely, _but it is nice to see you decided to not quit_.

The Nightmare King blinked, "I have quitted, a long time ago, I was just…"

_Just…?_

Pitch huffed with a scowl and waved his hand at the moon, "Why would you care? You didn't care before, for the past six hundred years. Nor when those fools fought me for no reason. Nor recently…why would you start caring now?"

_I always cared, you just shut me out_.

"And so now suddenly I decide to listen?" he asked sarcastically.

_Yes_.

Alright, he'll admit he didn't expect that…Pitch blinked before shaking his head and glared up at the moon, "You're a very confusing person."

_And you're a very stubborn man_.

Pitch pulled at the front of his robes, "I suppose I just ready myself."

_For what?_

The tall man scowled, "You've alerted them of my work and in no time they'll come, bombarding me with their attacks."

_Don't worry, old friend, I'll keep this a secret_. If Pitch could see him, he'd see him smiling.

* * *

In one part of the globe, a horde of Fearlings were gliding over an ocean with three spirits fleeing like mad. Said spirits were a man covered in black scales, webbed fingers, a woman with short, blue hair and green skin, and another woman with white hair that resembled sea foam with a seaweed green tail. The two spirits with legs ran over the water, and the tailed one kept up with her powerful tail.

The man looked over his shoulder to see black masses getting larger and larger as they came closer; he glanced at the other two water spirits with him and urged them to go faster before-

Something dark wrapped around the green woman's arms, she only had enough time to widen her eyes and part her lips before flying backwards towards the shadows and disappearing with them.

* * *

Every day, there were always new surprises for Willow, whether good or bad. However, being shoved into a sack and thrown through a magic portal left her clueless.

She felt the sack land on the ground and the spirit of guidance let out a groan of pain; would it kill the cookie-loving-jolly-bloke to put thicker carpets?

"Finally!" she heard someone with a thick Russian accent say, "She's here!"

"North, what is it with you and sacks?" Jack said, a bit annoyed.

"Vell, you seemed very happy vhen I did so to you."

Jack face palmed, "I was being sarcastic."

Someone poked the bag from the side, "Hey, sheila, you're still alive in there, right?"

"Aye, I am," Willow answered, "but I cannot find tha' bludy opening!"

Bunny chuckled and pulled the sack, she fell onto the ground with a cry, something was moving under her back.

"A wee warnin' wuld 'ave been lovely." She huffed and sat up, an elf ran away from under her back and started to relate his horrors with the other elves. She stood up and said, "Alricht, whit 'ave I done for all ye t'nick meh from ma job with nae warnin', an' particularly I'm in a dire situation with ma believers 'cause some are startin' t'-…" she quickly held her tongue, "Ma believers ar…startin' t'…lose a lotta guid…ance. They're startin' t'get tint a lot an' so they need ma help!" she folded her arms and gave them a pointed look, "An' ma help certainly wounnae reach 'em with meh standin' here on tha' panel!"

Everyone just stared at her, not even bothering to cut her in the middle or she'd blow up even more, and then Bunny said in all honesty, "I have _no_ idea what ya just jabbered on 'bout now."

Willow groaned and pulled at her hair, "I said: Ye all can't jus' go an' kidnap someone when ye feel like it! _Mi tha trang!_" (I am busy)

Tooth flew to her, "Hey, easy, champ, this won't take long! You just answer a few questions and you'll be back to your job in no time!"

Willow lowered to the ground and blinked nervously, "Whit…questions…?" she hoped, so very hoped they wouldn't ask about Pitch or anything related to the Fearlings she fought yesterday.

"Someone told us Pitch attacked ya yesterday." Bunny said, fingering a boomerang. Wow, did Manny create a spirit for Proving Willow Wrong Day?

Willow's eyebrows quirked in confusion, "Attacked?"

Bunny deadpanned, "Yes."

Willow scratched her head, "I…I wasn't," she shook her head, "Pitch dinna lay a finger on meh yester."

"But you saw him," Tooth asked, "Right? Jack told us you saw him when you were leading a girl with your Wisps."

Willow grimaced; if she told them yes, she technically wouldn't lying, right? She was leading a girl yesterday and she was technically 'seeing' Pitch the whole time? So the past tense would be 'saw'? Well, it wouldn't be her fault they misunderstood her, "Aye, 'tis correct." She said calmly.

"Zen if he didn't attack you, vhat did he do? Vhat vas he doing?" North (obviously!) asked.

"He was…ridin' a horse…" Willow muttered.

Bunny blinked, "That's it? The rat-bag was prancin' 'round with his pony?" (You make that sound like riding a horse is 'bloody' easy, Bunny!)

Tooth hovered closer to her friend, "Willow, this is serious. You sure he didn't do anything? You didn't see him hurting anyone?"

He didn't right? Well, except for the Fearlings, but the Fearlings weren't anyone, they were any_thing_. So technically, "Nae, he dinna lay a finger on a bodie."

All the Guardians -_sans Sandy_- eyed her for a moment, before North clapped his hands, "Alright, thank you much, Viana, vould you like a cookie or something before you leave?"

She shook her head, "Nae, I'm fine, North, but thank ye muckle anyhow." As soon as North went to talk to a few Yetis and the group broke up, Willow whispered to Tooth, "Viana?"

Tooth smiled, "He meant 'Wiana'."

The fact dawned on Willows face, "Ah…" then she frowned, "I guess that's ane o'tha' cons o'avin' a pure long name."

Tooth grinned, feeling lucky no one called her 'Thiana' or anything similar to that.

Before Jack flew out the window, he asked, "Hey, where's Sandy? Wasn't he supposed to be here with us?"

Bunny stepped away from his hole, "Ya know, Popsicle's gotta point, it was so quiet, I kinda assumed he was already here."

Tooth brought a hand to her mouth, "What if…what if Pitch found him? What if Pitch hurt him?"

"Tooth, Tooth, calm down," North said, "Ve can't jump to conclusion yet, Pitch is still veak, da? If Sandy found him, he is still giving him a… -_vhat do you call it?_- eh, a good hitting."

"It's 'beating', North, a good _beating_." Bunny corrected.

He waved a hand, "Exactly vhat I mean. Right now, Sandy is teaching Pitch a lesson not to mess vith good dreams and children's heads."

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

on tha' panel: absent from work

a bodie: anyone

* * *

Right now, Sandy was hiding at a child's window and watching as Pitch stood over them, crafting a nightmare with his sand. But, instead of interfering and giving the man a greeting with his whips, which had half a mind to do, Sandy smiled to himself as soon as he saw his ex-friend's expression. It wasn't a sinister and maniac grin as soon as he saw the children grimace and whimper, it was a small smile as soon as the child woke up, forgetting about their useless fears. Sandy hadn't seen that for a long time, for six hundred years, in fact. Of course, his other friends would probably disagree and try to get rid of Pitch on the spot, but the problem was that they just didn't understand. He and Pitch had tried to explain to them when they were created about how things worked, but they had shut out the black man and just couldn't understand Sandy's symbol talk at the time. Even now, it was only after many symbols and expressions he'd get the idea through.

Pitch suddenly sighed after removing the Nightmare from the child, still small, and stood up. He said without turning, "I know you're there, Sanderson, there's no point in hiding."

Sandy frowned, a gun shooting appeared over his head as he thought 'Aw, shoot!' before rising tentatively and poking his head over the sill. Pitch was giving him a deep frown -_even if there was a bit of sadness etched into it_-, while scratching the top of the Nightmare's head as though it was a cat, "I'm waiting." He said in a soft hiss.

Sandy raised a question mark over his head and cocked his head to the side.

Pitch rolled his eyes, "Has being a Guardian for so long made you daft?" he muttered, "I believe at this point you snag me in your dream sand and throw me against some walls." (*smacks into a wall* sorry, couldn't help it :P)

Sandy's eyebrows went up, the question mark didn't disappear.

"Why?" Pitch snarled, although he managed to keep his voice down, "Because you all _hate_ me, that's why! They, the Guardians, and the new spirits Lowee, Annis, all of them turned their backs on me because I wasn't like them. And you!" he pointed a finger Sandy accusingly, "You left me for them. For how many centuries had we know each other before they appeared? Four centuries, Sandy! Four! And then you team up with them in the blink of an eye!"

Sandy's eyes had widened and he watched Pitch rant angrily of their past. When Pitch finally stopped and glared at him while panting, Sandy formed the figure of a person looking quite remorseful.

"Oh, you're sorry? That's all you have to say?!" Pitch yelled angrily but froze when the child groaned in her sleep and mumbled something about wanting to not go to school. Pitch growled and went to the street through a shadow, Sandy went through the window and made characters on his head he was sure his old friend would understand.

'Please understand, it was only a cover for some time until I managed to convince them and let them see otherwise!' Sandy signed.

Pitch was about to start insulting the man in front of him when he stopped and blinked, what? He peered at the golden man; his friend was truly that kind? Was he, Pitch, that blind? The tall, grey man lowered his hands and looked at the side, he'd open his mouth for a moment but then shut it closed as though he couldn't find something to say. Finally, he looked up with blank eyes and his mouth set in a grim line, he said flatly while gesturing to the empty windows, "The children are waiting, Sandy." Before summoning his favored Nightmare and galloping into the night sky.

Sandy sighed and picked up something black he saw on the ground; it looked much like black sand, but as soon as he touched it, he knew it wasn't the grainy substance. It didn't look right, the way it didn't catch the light like any object or material, in fact, it reminded him of the Fearlings.

Suddenly, he knew, this _was_ from the Fearlings, the Fearlings that had made an influence (more like possessed) Pitch black after the Great Battle six centuries ago. Pitch was slowly, slowly shedding them off. With each unnecessary fear a child conquered, a chain from those shadow beings was broken. No wonder Pitch was looking less…dark.

Sandy quickly flew in a rocket towards the North Pole; his friends _had_ to know of this wonderful news!

* * *

**Oh yes, wonderful indeed, especially when the author him/herself is trolling his/her very own story! *maniac laugh***

**Sorry, sorry, that was random, I admit it. *glances at audience***

**Inevitably... *scary drum roll***

**Awkward silence.**

***runs away as angry mob of readers runs after author***

* * *

Whenever he was extremely mad, he'd go to sleep until his back hurt and his bed felt like rocks (yes, even the Boogieman has a bedroom, I think I mentioned that before *raised brow*). He'd sleep until he'd wake up and not really remember why he was angry. Why do you all think he spent a lot of time to get ready for getting rid of the Guardians? He'd been alternating between creating new Nightmares and sleeping. When the Guardians had been happily rejoicing his defeat and Jack's new believers for the past months, he'd been sleeping, feeling utterly defeated and without hope.

At the moment, he was mad, well, more like riled up, after meeting with the Sandman (who the last time they met threw him around like a ragdoll and threw sand in his face). Every time he closed his eyes, all the memories he gained over the course of his millennia plus life time replayed at the back of his eyelids. So he resorted to just stay unmoving and still -_pretending to go to sleep_- even though there were many kids right now in countries which were currently at night who were sitting in bed, unable to sleep with their extra fears plaguing them.

"Da? Daaaa…whaur ar yew…?" a familiar voice sang through the corridors of his vast quarters, "Yer not hiding in tha' shadows, are ye?"

Pitch groaned and hid his head under a pillow. _Not now_, he thought, _not now_. He prayed in his mind the girl would get lost in the hallways, corridors, and shifting shadows and then leave him alone. Unfortunately, it seemed Father Time decided she'd find his personal quarters (_again!_).

Willow stuck her head in the room and grinned, she slowly hovered into the room, taking it in. It was darker than outside, and so she could barely make out the furniture, but she could see faint outlines of a chair, a side table, a bed, and other things she couldn't make out.

"Hallo, Da." She said, "Yeesh, this place is just unco _lichtsome_." She said sarcastically.

"It's Pitch," he mumbled from under his pillow, "And you're not invited."

She wore a mock motherly smile, "Aw, is poor Pitchy feelin' a bit crabbit t'day?"

Pitch groaned, "Leave. I'm not in the mood to listen to you."

She folded her arms, "Well, that is such a cauld comfort attitude, 'tis naenice t'treat guests so."

"You're not a guest, you're a pest."

She pouted, "'tis naenice t'call ye's child that."

Pitch groaned in annoyance, "How many times do I have to tell you-"

"Oh!" she cried, cutting him off, and flew excitedly into the air, "Y'know how it's been -_ah…whit? A week, I think?_- a while since we saved tha' pretty lassie from tha' Fearlin? Aye, an' so, her family got the gauld an' ar dewin' graet tryin' t'step up tha'social class ladder! Mysie'll be gauin' t'school in a month!"

"That's great, wonderful-"

"Her parents ar dewin' graet with tha' money, actually. Nae spendin' it lousily or anything like that, nae sir, not fer tha' MacAra -_whit happened t'tha surnames? 'Ave gotten it all wrong!_-!" She said excitedly.

Pitch wish he could have some quiet, "Fantastic news, dear, but as you can see, I've got better things to do."

Willow glanced at his thin form on the bed, she rolled her eyes, "Oh, fer cryin' out loud." She muttered before tearing away the covers.

"What do you think you're doing, young lady?!" he scolded, thankful he still donned the shirt and pants from under his robes.

"Come on, D-…Pitch, ye can't be so doon moued as so." She said, trying to take the pillow.

"Look, _girl_, I can't put up with you at the moment," he raised the pillow a bit and revealed a terrifying scowl, "So leave."

Willow made sure he could see her; she folded her arms and displayed her own terrifying scowl, "Twa things, _sir_, first-" she raised a finger, "-'ave gotta name. Saecond, 'tis alricht for ye t'be mad, but ye can't have yer go a'me!"

"I can since you've imposed yourself upon me and showed up _uninvited_." He said, sitting up.

"I came t'keep ye company! 'Tis nae like 'am tryin' t'bug yew!" she said exasperatedly. She sighed and turned away, humming for her Wisps to follow her. Pitch's eyes widened.

It wasn't odd to hear her hum like that, she did it a lot when she came to visit. But this time, this time he noticed something he failed to see before, and it was so plain in front of him.

She didn't hum, even if the Wisps did, she _sung_. But her words were so fast, so low, it sounded like they were hums.

And what made him freeze was that what she had sung struck something in him, he knew he heard that before. He knew he did! Something far away echoed in his mind…

"_**Huis, huis, air an each,  
An t-each a' dol a Bhàlaigh**_."

_A small, baby girl, no older than half a year, with his dark locks and golden eyes giggled and offered a baby's smile. He took it that she liked the lullaby._

"_**Beiridh a' muir-làn oirnn,  
Beiridh e air chasan oirnn,  
Beiridh e air chinn oirnn!**_"

_The baby grasped his finger and started to make little noises, probably trying to imitate him._

"_**Huis, huis, air an each,  
An t-each a' dol a Bhàlaigh**_." _He finished_.

_The baby let out a squeal and started to clap, well, as close as she could be to clapping. He let out a laugh and carried her, her deep black locks flew with every movement_.

Pitch glanced at the doorway and saw Willow standing there, looking concerned. How…who was the child he just had a…flashback of? It couldn't be anyone he knew, he was positive he didn't sing lullabies to children at all. But the similarities between the baby and the young spirit in front of him were hard to miss. I mean, they both had pale skin, golden/silver eyes, and black hair! Maybe it was a coincidence? A small voice in his head asked…

…what if Willow had been right? What if they were-

"Yewr alricht?" Willow asked hesitantly, "Yew…zoned out thaur a bit."

Pitch stared at her a bit longer, he shook his head, thus wiping away those unsettling thoughts. "I'm fine. Just perfect." He muttered.

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

unco lichtsome: extremely delightful

crabbit: bad tempered

cauld comfort: unfriendly and inhospitable

doon moued: literally "down in the mouth" or depressed

* * *

**What do you think about Pitch's Nightmare raid, but for a new cause? Iz good, no? So, as for clearing up:**

**The three spirits that were running away from the Fearlings were water spirits that I selected after reading through some Wiki pages. They're all from Europe, although one's from Russia, one's from Germany, and one's from Wales. That's all I'm saying because I'll reintroduce them later in the story, just wait.**

**Lowee is my OC for the Spirit of Halloween. Obviously, I played around with the word 'Halloween' and removed the 'Ha' and the beginning and the 'N' at the end. The name's also supposed to be something like Louie, but it's pronounced 'Low' like the word 'low' and then 'ee' as in 'free'. He has minions in the shape of those Halloweeny animals and has a fuzzy kitten as his pet and the general of his minions named 'Kat'. Yep, I'm such a creative person.**

**Annis is actually Black Annis, who is basically the female version of the Boogieman.**

**Randomness, 'tis whit I dew! *crazy laugh***

**The idea of Pitch sleeping when he was mad was something that came at the top of my head, but also from some stories I read that had Pitch in a bed and snoring away :P**

**The lullaby in Pitch's flashback was (obviously!) in Gaelic, I got it from this site that had some short things you'd sing to a child and this one was short, quick, and sweet. I'm sorry I didn't post the translation but it just wouldn't work right there, smack in the middle of the story. So, if any of you want to see the translation, just search the first line: "Huis, huis, air an each". There was this other one I really loved but it was so long and I needed something short. I'm trying to find the perfect scene for it, I hope.**

**I just want to point something I noticed, in almost all of the RotG fanfics, they treat night and day like it happens at once all over the world, and the same in the movie when they were collecting teeth. I don't know, maybe they were only doing North America or something, but then I saw that there was a Middle Eastern Country (since when are Arabs blondies? Most of them are brunettes or have black hair!) and so I got mixed up. To avoid confusion, let's all remember that night happens in one half of the globe while the other is morning, alright? Good.**

**Mysie is the Scottish form of Maisie, which is the diminutive form of Margaret.**

**On last bit, the title is the meaning of the first line in the lullaby.**

**So, as usual, five reviews for next chapter. Cheerio!**


	6. Chapter 6: The Unknown One Who Knows

**Hello! Yeah, I'm aware of how late I am in updating, but I had a slight writers block while writing this and I kept pondering over the meaning of life to figure out what to write, and then the ideas came full blast!**

**For the reviews: 28 BLOODY REVIEWS! I'M GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK! (if my first one doesn't count :P)**

**Replay to Yidn23:**

**He's not exactly shedding off the Fearlings as much as he's shedding off the Fearlings' influence on him when he used to work with them as the Bringer of Fear. Him looking different? Weeeellll...I'd say so, anyways, we'll see.**

**I'd like to thank WreckItRalphFan, the long reviews seriously make me go berserk! Very inspirational, I'm always grinning!**

**And thanks also to all the other reviewers to my story, you don't know how happy I am when I see your comments.**

**I'd just like to warn that there is an OC here and a...nah, it's in the guessing game I'll explain later.**

**Without further ado I present:**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Unknown One Who Knows What Shouldn't be Known (Aka: The Random Song)

* * *

If it was possible, his lair looked darker today than most. Maybe it was if the weather, there were clouds from last night. Maybe it was because of the amount of days he spent down here since his last visit to the children. But the real reason -_which he would never admit_- was because Willow wasn't here. Despite her annoyingly joyous attitude, the Gaelic words she'd say every now and then, and the thick Scottish she spoke that made him wonder if she was speaking English, she made him feel something he never had before. She made him feel like she was his responsibility, that nothing terrible should befall her. That-

Wait, where the heck was all this coming from? He was the Boogieman! The Nightmare King! The one who tinkered with Fear and Courage in children! He shouldn't be so soft!

A few of Willow's Wisps she had left in his layer were sitting with some Nightmares, playing something that was a mix between Goldfish, a matching game, and eating the cards. Both her and his minions had gotten used to each other, instead of being scared stiff of one another. One Wisp slapped down a card and flew in loops in the air, the other Wisps cheered. The Nightmares huffed and stomped their hooves in the ground, smoke flared from their nostrils.

Pitch jump a little when he felt something touch his hair, he turned around and found Willow's horse giving him a worried look. True, Willow changed the Nightmare to a…well, a Wispmare, but it still retained some of its sandy nature, if the time they went riding was anything. Willow had him keep the horse with him because if she brought it questions would be raised.

"What do you want?" he asked.

She huffed and started to nod her head, Pitch looked over his shoulder and saw the tunnel.

"Where's Willow?" he translated.

She neighed in agreement.

He shook his head, "I don't know, but if she hasn't come then it obviously means she's busy."

The horse neighed.

"No, she's fine, she's not being attacked by Fearlings." He sighed, but he wasn't overall convinced with his own words.

* * *

She was being attacked by Fearlings. It had been so sudden she didn't have time to do anything but run away, leaving her Looking Hole Wisps behind as well as several Wisps (the ones that were mainly for Leading). In tow with her, her Combat Wisps flew as ran quickly while fumbling for her dagger. She cursed as her hands were sweaty, the dagger in her pocket would keep slipping. There was a terrifying screech behind her, her Wisps hummed.

"_Rosad sin dubh, fiamh béist!_" (curse those black, ugly beasts) Willow muttered as soon as she caught hold of her dagger. Unexpectedly, she stopped running and spun 360 degrees, slicing many Fearlings in the process. To her Wisps she said, "Go an' protect tha' Swatchin' Hole Wisps. I'll hauld these aff fer now."

The Wisps with her hummed in affirmation before darting towards the Looking Hole Wisps.

Willow sighed a sigh of relief before unleashing a battle cry and leaping in the air, her eyes flashed white and for a faint moment her whole being looked more like a blue, wispy cloud. A glance over her shoulder confirmed the Fearlings flying after her; Willow quickly turned around and flew their way, slashing her dagger and taking down many of the shadowy beings. Their screeches filled her ears, but the Mistress of the Wisps didn't care. They scratched at her arms, legs, and face; they pulled at her long hair; and circled her in a mass of black ink. But the girl fought on, screaming again and again as she thrashed with her dagger, her whole being flashed to something akin her Wisps but enlarged. They pinned her arms to her sides and her legs, trying to steal her off, to take her away. Willow hummed as she flashed blue and transformed to her Wisp form before gliding away as fast as she could towards the place of the Looking Hole Wisps were.

She landed on the ground and reverted from her Wisp form; the place was not like she left it at all. There were many of her Wisps on the ground, grey and withering. Some of the Wisps were still well and blue, trying to help their fallen. Willow walked slowly with tears in her eyes, "_Obh obh_…" (oh god) she whispered as she glanced at the now fading, grey Wisps. But when she looked at the Looking Hole Wisps, she gasped; they were all tinted dark grey, each one revealing more of her Wisps grey and dying and what had become of the humans that were following them. There was a lost child in one place, a mugged teenager in another, one revealed a woman crying over the body of a man. Willow held her head in her hands before collapsing on the ground from exhaustion and grief.

* * *

In the majestic Craik forest in Scotland, with its many trees and waterfalls, its protector strolled through it. With her skills with every weapon and every form of martial arts, no one could match her bravery. A deep chocolate horse with a white mane and white fur at its hooves walked next to her. But instead of a cheerful aura or a brave one, there was nothing but gloom and cowardice, which was ironic because she was the Guardian of Bravery.

A shadow flitted by them, making them both stop in their tracks. Sky blue eyes -_dulled by the loss of believers_- darted around, looking for any threats, her hands already grabbed her bow and fixed an arrow.

A screech filled the air, her eyes widened and in no time the spirit was one her horse and was running as fast as the wind. Black, shadow creatures followed them, the girl aimed her bow and shot down a few, new arrows filled her quiver as fast as she took the out. Suddenly, she was jerked off her horse and flew to the ground; when she looked up she saw the shadow creatures slowly dragging the neighing horse. The girl scowled before letting out a bloodcurdling roar and transformed into a deep black bear. She charged at the shadows and slashed her sharp claws. They screamed and let go of the horse, flying towards the bear. Her eyes widened and before she so much as blink, the shadows blasted at her so hard she lost her concentration and reverted back to her normal form while falling to the ground in a heap. She shot up and held up a staff with two pointed ends, ready to puncture her enemy. Suddenly, black things grabbed at her ankles and wrists and a dark hole opened in front of her. The tendrils started to pull her closer to the hole, she fussed and tried to break free, only resulting in the tendrils going faster. She flew into the black hole, making it, the shadows, and her disappear.

All that was left was the staff, her horse, and a bear amulet.

* * *

The next day, after his 'strolls' (which mainly included curing children of their phobias, but he wouldn't admit that, nope, no way) in America, Pitch managed to stop at Scotland, wondering where the more-hair-than-body girl was. After having her visit for about two weeks since she fist called him 'Father', it was odd, even worrying for her to not visit and annoy the heck out of him. When she hadn't visited yesterday, he assumed she was busy, but then he remembered she always came to bother him, _every single day_.

He came to the familiar forest and looked around, she was nowhere. Suddenly, something whizzed by him, making him jump a bit. It quickly multiplied into many as it sped to its destination, it didn't take him long to figure out that it was a Wisp. Many others whizzed after it, he grabbed one in a fist, faintly reminding him of a certain Baby Tooth he used as blackmail.

The Wisp in his hand hummed, annoyed, bringing him back to the present.

"Where's your leader?" he asked.

It pointed where the other Wisps went.

He rolled his eyes, "I mean your Mistress."

It flew out of his hand and multiplied, leading a trail for him to follow.

It was after some time he made it to where the Mistress of the Wisps was. There was a lot of commotion, the girl was literally in many places at once. Looking Holes kept opening up as she darted through them, not even stopping for a breather. Many hums filled the air of various Wisps and her own orders in Gaelic, Scottish, and a series of hums. So many flashes from the Looking Holes almost blinded him.

The Wisp that led him here flew towards her just as she was about to enter another Hole and hummed something to her, pointing at Pitch's direction. She looked up, a bit shocked but then grinned. She called a Wisp, a bit larger and more opaque than the rest and commanded it to take over before she flew towards him.

"You look _awful_." He said, although not accompanied with a smirk nor was it sneer as he had done with the Guardians.

And yes, she literally looked awful. Her waistcoat's collar was open a bit more than usual, her sleeves were rolled up so they were halfway toward her elbows, her hair which was usually well kept and reminded him of a waterfall was a bush in every literal sense, half of it was falling out of the messy bun she had put it up in. Her face was flushed and she was panting a bit.

"Yer lookin' gaud as well, Pitch. Neva' thoucht _ye_ wuld come t'see _me_." She teased.

He blinked, "Honestly, you look like you were trampled on by a group of bulls."

She laughed, "Raelly? Saems 'avennae swatched maself ina mirror raecently."

Pitch frowned and folded his arms, how could she take her condition so lightly? "Are you sick?"

She blinked, "Uh, nae, I'm nae dyin', jus' that thaur were some o' ma Wisps that got many people tint an' so am fixin' their wrongs." She huffed, "But o'course I need t'be in many places tha' same time an' it's pure dead exhausting! Am so sair forfochen."

Pitch raised a very light, very thin brow, "Really?"

"Aye." She muttered and leaned against a tree, slid down, and rested her forehead on her knees.

"And that's why you didn't come yesterday?" he said, trying to sound nonchalant.

Suddenly, all signs of exhaustion disappeared and she shot up, "Aw, ye missed me!"

"No I didn't-"

She giggled, "Aye, ye did. Ye sound pure much like a father whose worried ova' his speug!" she exclaimed before sitting down again.

He huffed and shook his head and sat next to her.

There was some time of silence, if one excluded the humming of various Wisps.

"Da?" Willow asked in a quiet voice.

Pitch sighed, a bit annoyed although he _tried_ to make it sound perfectly normal.

"I-I mean…Pitch." She muttered.

He glanced at her, "Yes?"

"Did ye…" she fumbled with a lock of hair, "did ye eva' wundar 'boot yer memories? 'Boot gaeing them back?"

Pitch looked unexpectedly at her, she was still looking at her lock of hair shyly. His past life? Why would he want to know about his past life? For his millennia plus he didn't have a thought of what his mortal life was, yet he was fine (as fine as one can be with the never ending hatred of just about every spirit in existence, good or bad, hating him, and only one -_no two_- spirits decide to pay him mind), when he was fine when he was the Guardian of Courage, he was fine as the Boogieman, and he was fine in his current, nameless state.

He shook his head and sighed, "I don't know."

"Ye don't want t'kno' whit yer auld life was?" she asked.

"Shouldn't I concentrate on the present first?" he said as he snapped his head in her direction.

"How will ye kno' who ye will be…if ye didn't kno' who ye were?" she said before getting up, dusting her jacket, and flying back to the center where the Looking Wisps were. In no time, she resumed her teleporting in faster-than-light speed.

Pitch sighed and got up, shaking his head; he started to walk towards a dark shade to go back to his lair. Just before he could melt with the shadow, a cold breeze blew by, making him involuntarily shiver. He looked around, catching the sight of the outline of a figure, as though it were made of the wind itself. The only defiant feature was the two, large, silver eyes staring at him pleadingly but still with a hit of coldness (the only attitude he was familiar of receiving from other spirits). He stood still with his arms folded and eyebrows raised, "Yes, Lemnica?" he asked flatly.

The faint features of the spirit's face frowned in displeasure, the wind blew, whispering in his ears: _Do not address me with such causality, Nightmare King, we served our friendship after the Great War._

One eyebrow went down, the other was left raised challengingly, "Oh? And my I ask, _Lady Sylph_, who was the one who started it? I do recall that I hadn't taken the first step."

She waved a translucent hand, a cold but soft breeze whispered her words: _I am not here to quarrel about our former relationship, I am here to warn you_.

"Of what? Of you're coming attack?" he hissed.

A powerful blast made him fly into a tree and slide down -_he was sure his coat was showing off his pale black nicely now, and maybe the bleeding scar_-, Pitch rubbed his forehead but froze with his golden-silver eyes widened at the next words from his ex-ally. Whispered with the softest breezes was: _Someone knows, someone knows of your leavings from your lair and all that has been happening_. _They know of your visits to the Will-o'-the-Wisps_.

"Who?" he rasped, "The Guardians of Children?"

_It's not my place to say, I only came to warn you. I'd suggest you cease of your doings and stay where you must_. A pause: _But it's not my place to suggest an advice to you_.

Pitch scowled deeply, "You want me to stop my job?"

A blank expression graced Lady Sylph's airy face: _Yes, there is no need of your Nightmares. All you bring is fear and restless nights, and while I'm not a Guardian of Children, I'm certain that your fear is nothing but harm_.

"No need of Nightmares? Fear is nothing but harm?!" he stood up, "I was once a Spirit of Courage, I should know of Fear and Courage. While you can destroy Courage, you can't kill Fear. If there is no Fear, human will die. You need both Fear and Courage to balance out, too much or too little of any will result in havoc, ruins, and chaos!"

_You are correct, you were once the Guardian of Courage, you cannot tip the balance with either of them. That is why you are of no use now, humans have their fear, they will have courage from hopes, dreams, imagination…and such. And don't try defending yourself, Nightmare King, your actions in your last battle with the Guardians of Children proved the exact opposite of your words. If you are not fit for the job, you might as well kill yourself and Man in Moon will replace you with someone worthwhile._

Pitch glared at her long at hard through her speech, but slowly, slowly, he had diverted his eyes away from the air spirit. Ironically, she was the one removing his Courage, leaving him with self doubt. Finally, he looked up with a fearsome glower, "How would you know, Lemnica? You're not even a spirit of any characteristics. This is not your forte."

He only had two seconds before he found himself being chocked by a seemingly invisible force. The Lady of the Winds was holding his throat in her cold hand, it had been a long time since he saw her face this close, but what he could make out of her features meant she could've killed him there on the spot. He could feel her getting hotter with anger and the winds around were starting to match the winds of the hot countries: _The only reason I haven't blown you so hard your limbs would tear apart is because I once knew you, you should know better than to insult one who is greater in power than yourself_. She let him go unceremoniously on the ground and her body slowly started to turn to the Wind the humans knew, a cooling breeze blew in his face with the words _I'll be keeping my eyes on you, Pitch_ before she turned to a cyclone and vanished to all parts of the globe.

Pitch slowly sat up and rubbed the sore spot at the back of his head, no doubt a bruise would form there. He was wondering, who was the one that knew of his recent activities? Who knew of the Nightmares he was giving children to protect them and correcting their doses of Fear? Who knew of his recent meetings with the Spirit of Guidance?

His only wish was that the Moon would arrive quickly.

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

sair forfochen: exhausted and worn out after a great deal of effort

speug: is a sparrow but can also be a word for a child

* * *

**Alright, I'm not one for emotional bits, so let's refresh you with an original bit I made up, and keep in mind the valuable things I tell you to do *puts on wise look***

**The Random Song:**

**Lalala, randomness!**

**Lalala, Ran-Dom-Ness!**

**Ranaranaranarana randomness!**

**Caractère aléatoire! (in French, say it three times when the class is quite)**

**Zufälligkeit! (in German, clap a few times when you and your friends are watching a movie and you all get to an emotional part)**

**Willekeurigheid! (in Dutch, if you're happy and you know it, stomp your feet...you get it, do that when your sibiling is bothering you)**

**Fortuiti! (in Latin, do the Hawaiian Dance in the middle of rehearsals)**

**Tychaióti̱ta! (in Greek, wear a leaf crown to school and claim you are Zeus)**

**Casualità! (in Italian, go make pizza or pasta or whatever those guys like to eat, bring it to school, and start a foodfight in the History lesson)**

**Alaashwa'iya! (in Arabic, put on too much makeup tell anyone who askes that it bring out your eyes)**

**Randamacht! (in Irish, go look for some gold and tell the first person you meet that you stole gold from the leprauchan)**

**Raaan-duuuum-naaaaas!**

**I assure you, after you follow these steps, you will become one of the Guardians of Randomness**

* * *

Ehh...back to the story:

It took Willow two days to finally recover from her fight with the Fearlings, flashing between countries was just a cover so no spirits would dote over her. She had half a mind to go and ask for help, but she was sure she could handle it, there were many times she was messed with and never needed any help. She hadn't gone to see Pitch again, still feeling a bit aw-…weird (not my best word, but I can't any other ones!), however, two days was enough to dissipate any odd feelings between them. So, until she could get her bearings and figure out what to say, she decided to visit a believer, the only one she allowed herself to be seen by.

She was feeling a bit creative today, so she tried to fit her clothes so she would look a bit like the way humans dressed. To not gain unwanted attention, she changed her look by replacing her wispy waist coat with a light blue blazer that was rolled to her elbows for 'a casual effect' and tied her hair so it wouldn't be so long and out of place within the Scottish village, no one seemed to have hair past their waists now! Whatever happened to fashion?

Everything changed since the last time she visited! The sights, the smells, the people! Everything was not like eleventh century at all! She bumped into a merchant and excused herself, trying to avoid any Gaelic words in her speech. The grin on her face was so wide she was sure it was touching her ears.

She saw the parents of the dead child, the child that died when the Fearlings for the first time messed with her portals.

"Hallo?" she asked, but they didn't even turn her way. She raised a brow, "Um…I dunno, but I saw when yer biarn was kilt an' I'm pure sairy."

The mother said something to her husband, not even looking at the girl. Just as Willow was about to say something, she received the shock of her life, one she hadn't felt for seven centuries, when…

…they passed right through her.

Willow stood, transfixed, in horror as the horrible feeling of humans passing through her reached inch of her body. It was a cold chill, the bad one, and she hated it. It made her feel vulnerable. She placed a hand at her chest, panting terribly, how? How had she been so dull? She managed to dodge any nonbelievers for so long she almost forgot what it felt like to have someone pass through her. It didn't pain her terribly that they passed through so much as the very thought they stopped believing in the Will-o'-the-Wisps. She remembered leading them to each other before they married, she was the reason they were together.

This was what she had been afraid of, of those Fearlings tainting her Wisps, leading people the wrong way, and thus losing more believers.

She thought about telling the Guardians, but then thought otherwise, they would target Pitch and he had done nothing wrong. If she told anyone else, they'd come to the same conclusion, so telling any other spirits was out of the question. She considered telling Pitch himself, maybe he'd be able to stop them, considering he worked with (was possessed, enslaved, was enslaved by) them. But if she did, she could get him into trouble with the Guardians of Children. Willow finally decided to keep it a secret, she could just ask Manny for help and she'll fix it without anyone knowing. Easy.

Willow nodded her head to herself and went towards Mysie's new home.

The house was small, near a stream with a small patch for a garden, just enough space to play in and grow a small vegetable garden. But although it was small, it looked homey, the sound of a few children was heard, coming from inside. On a makeshift mailbox was the family name, MacAra, carved into it. They didn't have that button you press that makes a noise in the house and summons the household residents as she observed in many homes, so she settled on knocking.

"Cummin', cummin'! Dinnae need t'rush!" came a reply from inside. The door opened, revealing a lady in her forties with blonde hair mixed with graying hairs in a bun, drying a dish in her hands with her apron. She had a kind face that was greatly emphasized with the age lines at her eyes. The woman blinked at the site of the girl in front of her, "Aye? Can I gie's ye a hand, hen?"

Willow smiled, relieved, so this lady could see her! "Hallo, Lady MacAra." Willow said in a calm tone with her former regality etching into her voice unintentionally.

"Umm…" the woman seemed a bit intimidated, "Hello?"

"Is Mysie home?"

Mysie's mother shook her head, a bit confused, "I'm sairy, who ar yew?"

"I'm…Will-o'-…Willow." She answered hesitantly.

"Willow?" the woman's brows furrowed in thought until light dawned on her features, "Ye wuldnae be that lass Mysie gibble-gabbles o'? Tha' ane she keeps callin' Will-o'-tha'-Wisps?"

Willow smiled a knowing smile, "That's me, Willowiana."

The lady quirked a brow at the name no doubt, but otherwise let her in warmly.

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

gibble-gabble: chatter and tittle-tattle

* * *

**Wow, I'm evil, aren't I? I make a character and then I start to torture her...**

**Wispmare, get it? Wisp and a Mare and you get a...ach, never mind.**

**The Craik forest is one of the forests in Scotland. As for the OC, I'm just gonna -_for my generous mood's sake_- announce the first one who tells me who the character in Craik Forest was will be the first to see Willow's picture, in Wisp form!**

**So, you've met my newest OC, Lady Sylph! Basically, she's the Wind, she was the one talking to Jack in Chapter four. Since she's the wind, she'd basically made of it, which was why Pitch saw her as outline, not a definite shape. Sylph is, in mythology, an invisible being of air, which was why she wasn't solid like most spirits. Here, she's the Wind, as I explained, and can separate to many places at the same time, which is why she can know of news very quickly. The Sylph is a type of Iele, which are like Nymphs or Undines, pretty ladies who wear chiffon clothes and dance to lure men. Lemnica is Lady Sylph's personal name, all Ieles have personal names which are supposed to be unknown. She told Pitch her real name because she used to trust him before the Great War. As you've seen, she talks through gusts of wind which changes temperature and force with her mood. The only thing that can be seen clearly in her are her silver eyes.**

**Ehehe...randomness, I'm the Guardian of Randomness, happy! There I confess to the world and I posted this story so I can gain more believers! *wails hysterically***

**Please ignore that.**

**Well, nothing else I guess except for:**

**5 reviews for next chapter**

**guess the OC who was taken by the Fearlings for a prize: be the first to see Willowiana, Wisp Form.**


	7. Chapter 7: You!

**Hello, my lovlies! It's been a long while, I know and I'm so sorry! Life's been in the way and I got a bit of Writer's block, but no worries, this chapter is FINALLY done.**

**The winner in last chapter's guessing game is:**

**Candle dark**

**Woohoo! winner, send me your email address and I'll send you the picture of Willow in Wisp Form as soon as I finish it!**

**Ok, I'd just like to give a heads up that I won't be able to update for the next two weeks because the internet is horrible, and I need to update my other story.**

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Chapter 7: You?!

* * *

After Willow returned from visiting Mysie, she had gone straight to her home with an increasingly worried expression. God knows when that couple had stopped believing in her and discovered many others as well were doing the same, they were all victims of her Tainted Wisps. As soon as she was about to start her work again, she noticed something moving in a shadow.

Willow's eyes narrowed down at the shadows, "_Sionnachan_." (Wisps) she whispered and a group of her Combat Wisps appeared at her command, "Attack Formation!" she said and they took their stance behind her. Willow crept closer, one inch, before running towards the shadow while letting out a battle cry, the Wisps let out their own battle cries that came out more like high pitched hums. Nevertheless, they all charged towards the shadow, expecting the Fearlings to rise at any moment and attack.

Suddenly, the figure in the shadow suddenly jumped up, but Willow, not registering who it was, had already raised her dagger and was ready to slash at him. The Wisps flew forward with their own weapons of Wispiness; the tall, slender figure dodged them well until he dropped in the shadow and appeared behind Willow, grabbing her wrists to keep her from attacking.

"_Leig leam_!* Let me gaw! _Sguir_!*" she screamed, stomping and trying to kick her attacker from behind. (*leave me, or, let me; *stop)

"Shh, stop, Willow, stop fighting!" a familiar voice said sternly from behind her, "And be quiet."

Willow relaxed and stepped away as soon as Pitch let go, she was breathing a bit heavy from her battle mode earlier, but otherwise fine.

Pitch folded his arms, "You know, after annoying me to the point of tearing my hair, I would've guessed you had gotten used to my hiding habits."

"Sairy." She said, blushing, "I-I thoucht ye were a…a traesspassar."

He raised a brow but pressed no further on the subject, in a serious tone he said, "Someone knows."

She cocked her head to the side -_making her hair tips brush the forest floor_-, "Kno' whit?"

He took a deep breath, "Someone knows that you've been seeing me for a while and they know that I've resumed my Nightmare spree."

At this, Willow froze, staring at him with unseeing eyes. "B-But I was careful, I made sure naebody knew I was seein' ye so they wuldnae hurt ye!" she whispered. "How did ye kno'?"

"Lady Sylph." He hissed.

Willow wrapped her arms around herself, " 'Tis _Calum na Gealaich_?" she asked.

He blinked, "What…?"

She rolled her eyes, "Min in tha Moon!" she said exasperatedly.

"He already knew." Pitch muttered, leaning against the tree, the scar from his encounter with Sylph was still fresh and he winced as soon as his back touched the tree.

Willow's face quickly contorted in worry, "Ar ye feelin' weel?" she asked.

He nodded, "That's not our problem at the moment." He said, a bit flatly, but he couldn't help it.

Willow sighed, "I'll…be careful then." She turned around and sat at a mound covered with grass. She waved her hand, opening many Looking Holes and started to watch them.

Pitch watched her, why every time he looked at her he felt something claw at him, albeit far away and faint but still… He narrowed his eyes at her, was it just him or did she look…tired?

He shook his head, maybe staying in the sun too much had affected his eyes. With a wave of his arm, a shadow engulfed him, sending him somewhere children were in need of Courage.

Willow saw him leave at the corner of her eye, only when she was sure he was gone did she allow a tear to slip down her cheek as she watched the Looking Wisps convey to her the former believers.

* * *

As soon as the last child on his mental list lost a phobia and he was done for today, Pitch swore he needed to change his outfit. Africa was just darn hot! Too hot for his all black attire that seemed to attract heat in day or night. Since he was reverting back to his former job of instilling Courage, he could opt for different colors…Just because he was named 'Pitch Black' doesn't exactly mean he had to take the name literally.

He found himself, again, in the sky with the help of his black sand waiting for the sun to set. He was wondering of the girl, no, he was a worried. With someone else knowing of what had been happening for the past two weeks, both him and Willow were in trouble. He was fine, after all, there was no one that really wanted to get near him so with him being in trouble, that was fine, he'll just keep jumping in the shadows for the rest of eternity, but Willow…he had to admit, the girl was really starting to grow on him.

_You seem in deep thought, old friend_.

Pitch blinked and snapped his head at the moon, "I am."

_Still think I'm going to send my Guardians against you?_

"Speaking of Guardians, you haven't told anyone else, have you? Of Willow's visits nor of my resuming of my job?"

_No, why do you ask? Does anyone know?_

"Sylphid." He answered, glaring a bit when he felt a small breeze.

_That was expected, Pitch, she's the Wind, she sees as much as I do, maybe more_.

"She told me someone else knows." He said as he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger, "I was hoping you'd know."

_I'm sorry, I don't know. I may know all of the spirits, but I wouldn't know what they think or see_.

"Willow could be in grave danger with this 'someone'." Pitch stated.

He was sure what came next would've been accompanied with a smile: _I never thought I'd see you so fatherly, Pitch_.

The tall man scowled, "I'm not being fatherly, I'm being concerned."

_It's not your duty to be concerned over her_.

"It is, if she gets hurt, it would mostly be my fault."

_Why?_

"I should've stopped her from visiting me." He shook his head in regret, "No, I should've made my Nightmares haunt her and keep her away."

Manny, if he had been close enough, would have placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder: _Don't worry, old friend, I'll watch over her. Besides, who knows? Maybe whoever this someone is could be beneficial._

Pitch sighed as he rubbed his thumb over his other four fingers, "I hope." He said and watched shadows fall and disappear in the night. A very small smile graced his features; maybe, just maybe, reverting to his original purpose wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

He returned to his lair to see some of his Nightmares running after the Wisps and swallowing them into their ribcages. Both his and Willow's minions were letting out hums/neighs of mirth, it was the first time in a very long time he saw those black being look so carefree like real horses. But he didn't really pay attention to that at the moment, because he collapsed on the nearest chair and started to curse the horrible heat of Africa.

Suddenly, he heard an echo beyond the frolicking of the blue and black minions, an echo from his tunnel. In inhumanly speed he shot up and quickly hid the Wisps in the farthest of his cages, "Stay here!" he whispered harshly. For the echo was not one Willow would make, she made sure to tap a few times before entering the tunnel and hums would accompany her. This was an intruder.

As soon as he managed to get the place to look like there hadn't been any frolicking he turned to a shadow and flew to the ceiling. Out of the tunnel came a blue figure.

"Pitch?"

He frowned, what on earth was that…that _thing_ doing in his home?

Jack tiptoed silently with his staff ready for an attack, "Pitch?" he called again. Just to get on his nerves, Pitch swiped some sand against a wall far away, making a soft noise that echoed around the lair. Jack froze in place and his eyes darted in many places until he noticed the Boogieman had no intention of revealing his hiding place. "C'mon, man, I'm not even supposed to be here! The least you could do is show yourself!"

Pitch raised a brow…or would've, if he wasn't in his shadow form.

A mischievous smirk broke onto the teenager's face before he started to stroll around in such an innocent manner with an equally innocent expression. He said as he fingered his staff, "Weeell, if you don't show yourself -_and that's fine by me_- I guess I'll have to play by myself. I'm actually in the mood of playing Freeze the Shadows."

Pitch's eyes widened, that kid wouldn't-

A shadow, not far away froze over by a spark of winter magic.

Yeah, he would. Well, there went his entrance to his study.

Another flash of ice flew from Jack's staff towards the other wall froze another shadow. Pitch bit his lip and tried to convince himself that he'd be able to get rid of them easily.

One of the bridges that had many shadows that led to the Nightmares' rooms was completely covered in white.

Ahh! No it won't! Pitch quickly flew from the ceiling to a wall and shot a black sand whip. It coiled around the winter spirit's ankle and hoisted him in the air, making him drop the staff.

"Whoa! Stop, man, c'mon." Jack looked around as he slowly spun around from the black tendril. After a full turn he saw Pitch as though he'd been there for ages with a very, very intimidating scowl, "Oh, hey, Pitch…"

"_What_ do you _want_, Frost?" Pitch hissed.

"Uh…" Jack scratched the back of his neck as he started to turn again and strained his neck to keep Pitch in his sight, "Just came to ask…"

Pitch raised a brow.

"Why are you spreading Nightmares again?" Jack asked innocently.

Both of his eyebrows shot up before going back down in a frown, "It's none of your business, _Guardian_." He snapped as he grabbed the wooden staff from a tendril of sand.

Jack extended an arm for his staff halfway, "I, um..." he thought for a moment before recoiling it back, "Just wondering…" Pitch deadpanned; Jack sighed, irritated, "Fiiine, everyone who keeps getting Nightmares starts losing fear and gain belief more in the Guardians and I was wondering since you kinda hate our guts so when you start doing us a favor it's creepy and-"

"It's my job, Jack, to get rid of unnecessary fears, it's always been my job." Pitch said quietly as he fingered the staff.

Jack stared at Pitch's back, "You're kidding, right? You're the one who _puts_ fear!"

Pitch's shoulders drooped and he sighed, "It seems the Guardians told you their version of the tale, haven't they?"

"The one where you were making life miserable for humans for centuries until the Guardians showed up and kicked your butt in the Great War?" he attempted to shrug, "Yep."

Pitch subbed his temples, "Look, Jack, I'm only doing this because you're a very young and airheaded spirit still in the beginning of your life." He turned around, "The Guardians aren't always right, they make mistakes because they are not perfect. Here, they are wrong." He started to walk around slowly, "A long time ago, before you and the Guardians existed, there was once a time when 'the Boogieman' wasn't the fear instilling, scary being. He was the one who would appear at night and remove the fear from, say, an accident that created a phobia. He was the one who fought fear and instilled Courage."

Jack blinked, "Really…?"

He gave a sharp nod, "Yes," a small, barely visible and wistful smile appeared on his face, "and then dreams that soothed the child from their adventurous Nightmares came, completing the process of turning Fear into Courage."

"Wow…" Jack's eyebrows crinkled (which looked very odd when upside down), "So that means Sandy…existed before the Guardians?"

Pitch nodded.

"And…" his eyes widened, "you and Sandy worked together?!"

"He wasn't just a colleague, he was my friend. A _very_ good friend." Pitch scowled, "And then, those amateurs that call themselves 'Guardians of Childhood' came claiming my job to be sickening and wrong, that children should have nothing but hopes and dreams and fairies!"

Jack frowned, "Hey! At least they don't go around saying 'I'm the Boogieman! Fear me!'."

Pitch rolled his eyes, "Oh, please, you haven't even heard the rest of the story, Jack," he raised a challenging brow, "Or have I started to bore you?"

"No, no! Go on!"

Pitch chuckled and shook his head ruefully, "Anyways, the Guardians hated my guts, we had the Great War, I decided to get back at them by making the children lose their belief in them, and then you came along, and the rest is history. The End."

Jack blinked for several moments before saying, "Wow…really, this is weird, and how should I trust you? You almost tried to kill me when I was helping the children."

Pitch huffed, "Fine, don't trust me. Go on and live with that story of your fellow Guardians." He folded his arms and brought his legs together, making him look thinner than he really was, "I won't bother and try convincing you otherwise."

"Alright! Fine, I trust you," Jack grinned, "I was only testing."

Pitch rolled his eyes stalked towards a chair, he sat on it with a huff and folded his balled fists.

A moment of silence….

"Uh…" his voice echoed, "Can you gimme a hand and put me down? And, um, gimme back my staff? My head's starting to feel a bit…swollen."

A sigh followed by fingers snapping was all Jack had as a warning before falling towards the ground, he managed to catch himself at the last minute and glide away from the ground, scooping up his staff in its rightful place…in his fist. He turned around to the chair Pitch was sitting on, but it was empty. He cocked his head to the side and was about to call out the tall man's name when a tired but irritated voice echoed, "Leave…before I decide to give you Nightmares…"

Jack sighed and shook his head before leaving through the tunnel.

* * *

**Moment of Silence...at least it wasn't awkward!**

* * *

The shadows were getting closer, closer, and the dirt he was shoveling just seemed to be getting harder to get through. Being who he is, he absolutely despised shadows. They reminded him of Bunny and they reminded him of the Great War. But it seemed those shadows wouldn't stop following him in his tunnels, and with his lack of believers he could feel his energy draining.

Screeching filled his ears and he willed himself to go on faster, but his claws were starting to hurt and so much dirt went in his eyes they were burning. But the sound of his heart thudding in his chest before didn't compare to when his claws scratched pure, hard rock. His eyes widened and he scratched frantically at the rock, hoping it would give him his survival.

"Oh no, no, no, no, yer gonna hafta lemme out now, c'mon." he muttered. He had drained himself of energy to use his hole portal and his claws hurt, but he couldn't fall prey to these beings. He pulled out a spear and took his stance…

…but he hadn't seen what was coming, for one of the shadows flew into the rock and turned it into a black abyss. The other shadows screeched and flew towards him, making him fly through and sealing it, as though there was never a struggle.

* * *

The next day, Willow watched her Wisps do their job, feeling much better than the Fearlings' latest attack. At least here she had a fair amount of believers. She was sitting on the roof of a building, swinging her legs that beat the wall, leaving shoe scuffs. The wind was wonderful today, blowing in her hair and making it billow in the air.

She looked down and saw frost patterns climbing up a tree not far away, but she was not ready when she heard "SNOW DAY!" and felt ice cold snow drop on her head and slide under her wispy waistcoat. Willow jumped up with a squeak and tried to get the snow in her clothes to go away.

Jack laughed, "Looks like you never had fun in the snow when you were human."

She crossed her arms, "I was a noble's daughter when I was mortal. I didnnae 'ave time fer fun." She shook her head and felt the now melting snow slide off her head and drop on an unsuspecting victim. She shared a look with the other spirit before snickering.

"So…anything new?" she asked as she flew with him.

He shrugged, "Not much…I guess." Jack lied.

She nodded, "Hmm…" she looked down at the road and frowned, "Oi! Ye's shuldn't be tintin' the humans, Wisps! _Tog dheth_!" (stop it) (O_O I said Tin Tin :P).

Jack laughed from behind his hand when he saw the Wisps leading some teens astray, "Oh…I'd love to post that on YouTube."

Willow rolled her eyes, "Ane moment, Jackie." She flew down and started to scold her Wisps. The humans were watching her with dropped open jaws; Willow noticed them and moved her hands in a circular motion around her face, "Yew didnnae swatch anything." She said before flying back up. (can anyone tell me where I got that line from? No? Alright, it's from Penguins of Madagascar, Skipper's favorite line :D) "Sairy, Jack, but 'ave gotta gauw."

He nodded, "See you around, William." He said with a wink.

"Cheerio, Jacqueline." She said with a snicker before darting away.

It didn't take her long to reach her destination, but she did glance over her shoulder every now and then to make sure no one was following her. Burgess forest appeared and she landed gracefully in a tree before leaping in the air, doing a few flips and landing on the ground. She went to her father's lair.

"Pitch?" she called as she stuck her head from the tunnel.

On the other side of the hall, a pair of doors slammed closed and Pitch whirled around, "Yes? Where are you and what do you want?"

"Am richt here." A voice said quietly

Pitch glanced at his side and jumped a bit, "Oh, Willow!" he said as he touched where his heart was, "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

She raised a brow, "That's yer job."

"_Was_." He corrected as he started to walk away from the closed doors.

"Ahh…I wanted t'ask, whit were ye dewin' t'slam tha' door in haste?" she asked from behind him.

Pitch stopped in his tracks and inwardly groaned, "Nothing of importance."

"Hmm, yewr sure?" she drawled as she walked next to him, her shoes echoing in the cavern, "Whit is it?"

He shook his head, "Nothing." He saw her eyeing the door as she glided backwards, "And don't try to sneak in, I've got security."

"Oooch, am pure dead 'fraid!" she mocked.

"Yes, you should be." He muttered.

They walked for a while, in silence, with the occasional Nightmare trotting nearby or a shadow, to which Willow would eye nervously and shuffle a bit closer to the Nightmare King. It didn't take him long to figure out that the unnatural warmth in his hand was hers clasped around his a bit tighter than comfortable. Pitch eyed her for a moment; he could clearly tell she was more nervous than afraid and unfortunately not from him but from the shadows. He chuckled.

"You hum when you're nervous?" he inquired.

Her humming stop and she looked at him, "Um…aye? Yewr tha' ane who taught me t'dew that when am scared."

He frowned and fought the urge to snap at her, "How do I force it into your cranium that I'm not even related to you? You're not the least bit similar to me."

"Maybe aye and maybe hooch aye." She said dismissively.

Pitch huffed slowly, "Are you quiet sure you speak English?"

Willow rolled her eyes and continued to look around, she pointed to the walls, " 'tis jus' me or is 'tis place gaein' lichtar?"

Pitch looked around, "Lighter?"

She nodded, "I donnae believe 'ave seen tha' walls that licht before, they were always grey. 'tis place used t'be as black as tha' earl o' Hell's waistcoat."

The tall man scowled, "That's would be courtesy to your talking snow cone."

She frowned, "Talkin' snow…" a wave of recognition washed over her face, "Och, ye mean Jack Frost?"

"No, May Queen." he said sarcastically.

"So that's why 'tis place suddenly started t' feel chill." She said and wrapped her arms around herself, "Whit he come fer?"

Pitch stopped walking and dropped in a shadow, "Go ask him, maybe he knows."

Willow frowned and stared at the shadow he dropped in, "Oi, ye donnae 'ave t' argue with me because Jack's nae here-"

"Boo!" he jumped out of a shadow.

Willow jumped up with an "Eep!", her hair almost looked frizzed. She turned to the black man, "Donnae dew that!"

Pitch laughed, "That's something that never gets old."

A sound echoed in the lair, and it wasn't from them. The two spirits froze.

"Nae me."

"Of course it wasn't." he said with an eye roll

Pitch created a black sand spear and dissolved in a shadow, Willow grabbed her dagger and plastered herself at the wall. They got closer to where the sound came from, Willow had the nagging feeling that it was Tooth, the hummingbird queen probably noticed her absence and went to look for her, yet it seemed unlikely in her head.

The noise led them to the main hallway of the lair, where the cages hung. Something flitted in her line of sight, making her throw her dagger at it, but it embedded in a wall. Willow cursed and waved her hand, well, now she was left with using her magic. Her hands glowed blue and her eyes were glowing white as she crept closer towards the source of the sound. Pitch reappeared in some corner, the only thing she could make out were faint outlines and his glowing eyes.

Swiftly, Willow darted and grabbed onto the first thing that came into her hands, her hands curled into fists kept landing blows on the intruder, who in turn yelped and told her to stop.

Pitch eyed the being trapped under the Spirit of Guidance before his eyes widened in recognition.

"Willow!"

She didn't even pay attention, because at the moment, both she and the intruder were rolling on the ground.

"Willowiana, _stop_."

She held the intruder in the air with blue light emitting from her fingertips, the same light that she used to summon her Wisps. Apparently, she used it to move things with it…or to light stuff up…or..something.

Finally, losing the last of his patience, Pitch jumped from where he had perched and snapped his fingers, black tendrils of sand grabbed at Willow's wrists and set them behind her back, making the blue light disappear and dropping the intruder.

But Pitch surprised them all when he said:

"Willow, _Sguir gleac!_" (stop fighting)

She froze and stared at him, "_Obh obh_…"she muttered.

"Hey, I didn't know you speak, uh, French, Pitch!" the intruder said.

Pitch frowned, "Be quiet." He walked towards Willow and turned her head to the intruder.

Her face brightened, "Och! Hallo, Jack!"

Pitch almost face palmed, "Willow?"

"Aye?" she said happily.

"He's the one who had been _spying_." he hissed, directing the last bit at the winter spirit.

Willow scowled and turned to Jack, "Yew ar _so_ dead."

* * *

**Soo, what do you think?**

**May Queen is my OC for the spirit of Spring, she's Jack's seasonal sister and looks very much like her mother, Mother Nature.**

**oh and for the Scottish Dictionary:**

**as black as tha' earl o' Hell's waistcoat: pitch black...O_O I said Pitch Black *snorts***

**Well, I can't find anything else to say, so tata.**

**Remember:**

**5 reviews**

**and whoever guesses the character that was caught by the Fearlings will choose the prize!**


	8. Chapter 8: Sop Glinn

**Lang time nae see, ma' lovelies! 'tis been a while, aye?**

**_Willow, get off the keyboard!_**

**But-**

**_Out!_**

**Ahem, sorry for that :). But yes, as she said, it's been a while, hasn't it? I'm really sorry for taking so much time, really, it's been so tiresome recently and thank god I managed to write this.**

**Well, I'm sure we all remember the last contest, aye? Well, the winner is...**

**big fan**

**Everyone, give 'em a hand while ya!**

**Alright, before I go any further, I just wanna say that _the_ Mystichawk reviewed this story as well as followed and faved this story! Mystichawk of the story The Boogyeman Tries to Understand Fanfiction! Oh man, I'm your biggest fan! I love that story as well as your story Fear is a Killer! I-I think I'm gonna *faints***

***hops up* Well no more about me being a fan and all that, let get on with the show!**

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Chapter 8: Sop Glinn

* * *

One moment, Jack was on his feet, watching a dreamsand spirit and a light spirit glower at him (well, the latter mostly), the next moment he was pinned to a wall several meters away from where he had been standing a couple of milliseconds ago with two, washed out golden eyes glaring at him so hard he wondered why he hadn't been burnt crisp yet.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he heard Pitch's voice echo, "and _just_ when I started to trust you, Jack." He said with fake disappointment.

Now can you believe Jack felt the slightest twinge of guilt in his stomach? He could feel the small hand of his friend tighten around his neck.

The shadows moved and soon Pitch was standing on the railway of one of his contorted bridges, leaning against the wall. Jack narrowed his eyes, was that…was that his staff the Nightmare King was fingering?

He glanced at his hands.

Yup, that's his staff, looking old and bleak as ever in the black man's long, spiderlike hands.

"It's a shame, really," Pitch drawled, not taking his eyes off of the staff, "you, being a _Guardian_, resorting to spying. You could've just _asked_." He looked up, "Willowiana, hands away from neck, please. I'm trying to have a _civil_ conversation."

She looked at him, "But I _did_ sae I's guain' t'kill him…" she said innocently.

Pitch deadpanned, "_Now_, Willow."

The Light spirit groaned but let go anyways, making Jack drop a couple of meters before catching himself and gliding smoothly in the air to stand on the railing of the bridge. He stared longingly at the staff, it was _calling_ him.

Pitch placed his hands behind his back (with the staff still in his fist) and said authoritatively, "Now, I'm sure your comrades are _worried sick_ for you," Pitch mocked, "so out of the _goodness_ of my heart -_yes, I have a heart, I was human once, was I not?_- I'll just send a message to them. Oh, yes," he smirked evilly, "North _will_ be pleased." He said as he turned around and started to walk slowly towards a dark entrance at the end of the bridge.

Jack's eyes widened in panic, "No, wait!" he cried as he flew to the bridge.

Pitch gave him a sideways glance, "No? Well, that'll never do, Jack. I recall the Guardians warning you to not come here, yes?"

Jack nodded slowly; yes, the Guardians told him to stay away from Pitch's lair, no matter how temping. If Pitch knew about this, then it was probably because _he_ was spying on them at that moment. Pfft, talk about irony.

"Then it's only right for me to go give them a call and update them." He said and turned around, "You know, it's awfully ironic how they're called 'Guardians' and they can't even guard one of them." He said, but it was unknown who he was talking to.

Jack grumbled and folded his arms over his thin chest, "That's not fair, Pitch."

The shadow man reappeared under the bridge, like in the Tooth Palace, he raised a brow, "Really?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I promised to keep your stuff secret and then you start blabbing about me when you get the chance."

"He wonnae tell them you've been snoopin' raund whaur ye shuldnae be." A stern voice said.

Both men turned towards the voice, Willow was in the air, glaring at them both.

"_If_ yew promise t'kaep it a secret, Jack." She completed.

Jack nodded without hesitation.

Both of the black-haired spirits raised a brow at him.

He placed his hand at his chest and another at his ear, palm facing them, "Guardian's Oath."

Pitch eyed Jack for a few more moments, "We'll see," he drawled. He then said generally to the two immortal adolescents, "Well, then, since we've had this little bit sorted out, you may leave."

"Where are you going?" Jack asked.

"My work." He stated simply, then pointed towards the exit, "Out."

Jack huffed and grabbed his staff before flying towards the exit. Willow whispered to Pitch, "Ye 'ave ma' Wisps, richt?"

He nodded.

Willow followed Jack to the exit.

Just as Pitch was about to leave, a white head poked from the exit, "Hey Pitch!"

He almost groaned, "_What_, Jack?"

"Can I come?"

Pitch snapped his fingers and tendrils of sand shot out of the shadows, threatening the winter sprite.

"I'll take that as a no?"

Pitch scowled.

Jack slowly inched away until his white head disappeared.

* * *

Willow flew towards a really high tree; she was mad, very mad. How could Jack be so…so…Jack? Did he have no respect for her? Pitch mentioned something about Lady Sylphid knowing about what was going on between them, maybe she told Jack, given she'd taken him under her wing as soon as he was born.

The girl sat on a branch very high up, from her vantage point, the lake looked nothing more than the size of her thumb. She fingered a leaf that managed to thrive so high up in the tree. Willow, although old in her immortal life died and forever will remain a fifteen-year-old adolescent. So, naturally, there was a severe conflict of emotion in her. What was scaring her was that she actually felt a bit relaxed with this whole ordeal, Jack knowing her secret. She had to admit that it was very tiresome for her, keeping a secret from him. Sure, other spirits were easy since they weren't that close, But she was one of Jack's many friends, she was his partner in crime, little sister, doting mother, and BFF (a strange term coined for friends joined at the hip these days) all in one. Well, maybe Peter was her male version for Jack, but whatever! The ever present glow around her seemed to strengthen with her anger, slowly turning from faint blue to white.

She felt something cold hit her back and let out a startled cry as she almost fell off. Willow scowled and looked around; wait, why was she even doing that? It was so _obvious_ who did that. She glared one last time and sat back on her perch, she grumpily folded her arms.

A snowflake landed on her knee, Willow looked up and saw more of them raining softly around her, as though she had her own cloud. Suddenly, a white face with a lopsided grin appeared in front of hers. She screamed and lost her balance, falling several feet before she felt someone catch her hand and wrap an arm around her waist.

Willow looked up at her savior and scowled; wow, so now you just have to _think_ of the devil and he will come?

Jack finally touched down on the white banks of his pond, as soon as her feet felt solid ground she pushed herself away from her frosty friend and stalked away a couple of feet.

"Hey," he said in a playful tone, "don't I at least get a 'thank you'?"

She stood still, intent on pursuing her new fascination with bare trees by watching them.

He took a few steps, "Come on, Will, don't be mad."

She made sure she didn't move and kept a grip on herself lessen she would revert to her Wisp form out of anger.

"Will." He said softly, "Willy?" he tapped her shoulder.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "What do you want, Frost?" her accent softened with her anger.

He recoiled a little from the coldness in her tone (anyone else seeing the irony? XD) and of how familiar her tone sounded to that of a certain king. "Don't be mad."

Her right hand -which was resting on top of her left forearm- tightened around the wispy fabric of her waistcoat into a fist, but she didn't speak, she was afraid she'd say something bad.

Jack sucked in some air and absentmindedly blew it out, releasing a chilly breeze.

The breeze chilled the girl; Willow almost jumped and said, annoyed, with a sideways glare, "Ja-ack!"

Jack smirked and covered his mouth but made no effort in stifling his mirth, "Sorry, I took a breath freshener that tastes like spearmint and, well, coupled with my extremely awesome chilly breezes, it just made my chilly breath _chillier_."

Willow rolled her eyes, "Yew did that on purpose."

Jack whistled innocently.

The light spirit rolled her eyes and looked away. Jack stopped whistling and nudged her shoulder, when he didn't get a reaction out of her, he stood next to her and squinted his eyes at the trees, "I don't see anything, what are you looking at?"

She turned her head and glared up at him.

The frost spirit held up his hands defensively, "Hey, don't look at _me_ like that, if you wanna glare something down, go do it at the forest."

Willow huffed and punched his arm, "Yew made meh pure dead _scunner_, Jackson! _Dé dùraig thu spithear mi_?! I can unnerstan that yew'll want t' spy on Pitch, but hauw can ye spy on _me_? I thoucht we waur friends." (how dare you spy on me)

He rubbed his arm and gave her a hurt expression, "But we _are_ friends, Wills." He paused for a moment, "The _best_ of friends."

She folded her arms and frowned, "Waell, whit ye did has certainly sendin' different signals, Jack."

Jack frowned slightly, "Come on, Willow, I have my reasons."

She raised a brow, "Raelly? Then whit ar they?"

"I…" Jack didn't look in her face, instead focused on the pattern that formed when he tapped the ground with his toe. "I was curious, I used to come to your forests but you wouldn't be there."

Willow urged him to continue.

"So, I followed you one day and found out." He glanced at her face, "And I _may_ have followed Pitch when he was sending Nightmares."

"An' that's why yew went t'his lair." She said, earning a nod from the snow sprite.

She stared at him for a few minutes, her eyes slightly narrowed at him, Jack's eyes wavered, feeling a bit small under her gaze despite the fact that she was shorter than his shoulder and was two years younger than him…mental wise, of course.

"If it helps," Jack said, "I didn't really find out much, just that you and Pitch were seeing each other and that Pitch returned -_ahem_- fixed his job…secretly…and I mean without the Guardians knowing."

Willow finally looked down and said in a quiet voice, "Please dinnae dew that again, Jack, if yew eva' want t'know somethin' or yewr curious then _ask_."

Jack nodded with a grin, "That's great, Rapunzel-" Willow frowned and fingered a lock of ankle-long hair "-really great," he said as he strolled on the ground and snapped his staff up, sending a flurry of snow in the air. He glanced at her, "Sooo…you like him?"

She kicked at the snow and shrugged, "Aye, I guess, he's nae bad."

"No, no." Jack shook his head, "I meant, do you _like_ him?"

She frowned, "Whit's that s'posed t'maen, Jack?"

He raised a brow with a smirk, "Come on, Will, don't play innocent."

"Jack, I honestly dinnae unnerstan whit yer jabberin' 'boot, whit dew ye-" She stopped midsentence as understanding dawned on her features before she blushed furiously, "Ja-_ack_!"

He hid his smile -and the occasional snickers- behind his hand, but his shoulders shook with contained laughter, "Aww, you _do_ like him."

She slapped his arm, "Jack, stop _bein'_ like that!" she hugged herself and let her hair cover her red face like a curtain, "I can neva' like 'im like that." She muttered.

Jack cocked his head to the side, letting some frost fly from his hair, "Why not?"

"Because," she started, she looked up, her hair only revealed one washed out, glittering, golden eye, "He's ma' fathar."

He started at her for a long while, it couldn't be. His en-…secretly-ex-enemy and his BFF ever since his existence couldn't be related! They were so different, yet…now that he looked at it from a different angle, they actually did look related. They both had sharp features as well as pale skin and slender frames, not to mention dark hair that made them all the more paler. But what was the most obvious feature, and what Jack just realized,

They both had the same washed out golden eyes.

And it wasn't just their appearance, no, they both had the same tone of anger, same challenging pose…the list could go on.

She waved a hand in front of his face, "Jack?"

He shook his head a bit to get rid of the shock, "H-How…?"

She dug her toe in the ground as she said shyly with her hair as her curtain again, "Waell…it saems that he turned t'a spirit as soon as he died, but when I died, Calum na Gealaich kept meh asleep for a few centuries until 'twas ma' time t'waek up."

Jack nodded vaguely, as if he somehow understood but still couldn't wrap his mind around it.

Suddenly, a portal opened and a Wisp came out. It looked tired, if the hum like gasps were anything, as though it had been flying for a while. Willow looked at it worriedly and quickly gathered it in her hands, she hummed a question to it and it started to explain in its hums while waving what appeared to be arms. Willow let out a small gasp and froze with her eyes widened.

"_Eagal faoileag bi ionnsaigheach Sop Glinn_?!" she rasped.

Jack's eyebrows creased in worry, "Uhh…I don't mean to sound ignorant, but what's happening?"

She had gotten up, snapping her fingers while muttering something under her breath, "Sairy, Jack, I cannae stay an' explain…"

"Why no-"

She hummed something quickly to a few Wisps that came out of a portal, the Wisps nodded and flew off in a random direction, "Thaur's a grave an' _terrible_ problem an' 'ave goe t'see t'it."

He got a bit closer, his worry increasing, "What's the pro-"

She fumbled with her pockets, half pulling out a silver chain before pushing it back in and hurriedly bothering with the other pocket and pulling out a long, sleek, black dagger with a shiny blue hilt while her other hand glowed blue.

Jack panicked, "You're going to fi-"

"_Chan a-nis, Jac_." (not now, Jack) She said frantically as she got ready to go through the portal.

Jack quickly grabbed onto her arm, "Willow! Tell me what's wrong!"

"_Eagal faoileag bi ionnsaigheach Sop Glinn!_" she cried, "_Jac, leig! __A-nis__!_" (Jack, let go! Now!)

In confusion and surprise, Jack did as he was told, although he didn't not understand a word she said, and was too late to stop her from flying through her portal.

* * *

**The Scottish Dictionary**:

Scunner: irritated, mad, fed up

* * *

As he soared through the night sky on a cloud of his sand, spreading tendrils of black sand -_much like his counterpart_- to the children to get rid of unnecessary fears. A few of his Nightmares galloped to keep up with him and oddly, some of Willow's Wisps were flying with him, doing loops and other tricks while they squealed in delight.

Pitch raised a brow; oh, so now beings made purely of innocent souls and pure light were going to accompany _him_?

He shut his eyes, no he was _not_ going to wallow. He was a _good_ spirit, he was _not_ evil nor sinister.

The sound of panicked hums brought him back from his thoughts, he looked at the Wisps and noticed a few more had appeared, frantically saying something in their own language to the other Wisps. The ones who moments ago were happy and carefree started to panic and flew through a portal with the others.

Both his eyebrows shot up, where had they gone?

* * *

Willow flew as fast as she could, pulling off her coat as throwing it behind her, it didn't matter, one of her Wisps was sure to get it. Under her coat was a tight fitting, black, long sleeved shirt with the area from her waist to her hips flowing a bit like a dress and had a collar. The cuffs, hems, and collar were all a shock of blue.

She half flew, half ran through the air as she soared towards her home, _Sop Glinn_, or Wisp Fortress (trust me, she would've named it Wisp Palace if Tooth hadn't already called hers Tooth Palace). It existed high in the air, hanging over the clouds, over the North Pole at some place far away from Santoff Claussen to have the sun rays and moon beams, each when the Pole was in its six months of night or morning. The fortress did look more like palace, with many gates and openings; towers; and walls. The fortress was made out of crystals and aquamarine, giving it a beautiful bluish glow in the light (and to blind trespassers). White and blue moonstones were mounted on doors as handles or around windowsills.

Any other day, Willow would've slowed her pace and admired her home (which she rarely visited) while reminiscing on the times when she and Tooth were still building their homes. But now, Willow flew as fast as spirit-ly possible, trying not to break at the sight; black shadows flew around her palace, going through her walls and out her windows. Her Wisps fought back with their weapons or with light, but she could see they were starting to tire.

Why was she so afraid? It wasn't for the precious jewels her palace was made of, she could rebuild it if it was demolished. No, it was because of the ever present portals in her home, the main room. So if the Fearlings tainted those…

Willow let out a battle cry as soon as she came near enough to attract the shadow beings from her minions. Her whole body flashed blue as she almost morphed to her Wisp Form but managed to hold herself. The Fearlings screeched and flew at her; Willow snapped her fingers and immediately new Wisps appeared, ready to fight. She watched the black beings come closer with narrowed eyes, calculating, until,

"_A-nis!_" she cried and watched her Wisps fly towards them before spinning and launching herself to the black horde.

Her dagger sliced through the shadows in one hand while her other glowed blue and shone rays of blue light at any black patch she saw. She battled her way through them, not daring to give in to the overwhelming fear, until she managed to get to her palace entrance. She looked around, there weren't much Wisps now. One Wisp came and hummed frantically:

'_Black things like shadows in the main room, Mistress! They hurt the others and now they're going to ruin the Looking Holes!_'

Willow shushed it softly, "_Ciùin_," (calm down) she hummed, she thought for a moment and then said, "_rach agus thoir Wispioni_." (go and bring Wispioni)

'_But Wispioni is a horse!_ _And she's not even a full Wisp! You said no one can come here but you and the Wi-_'

"_Mi aithne abair mi arsa_." (I know what I said) she cut, "_Ach sinn feum cuideachadh. A-nis rach cho luath 's tha agad_." (but we need help. Now go as quickly as you can)

The Wisp sighed but nodded and flew off, turning itself into a Looking Hole and entering Pitch's lair.

Willow sighed and darted towards the main room.

She flew by rooms, now empty of her Wisps, but she did not let that stop her. She flew into the main room and almost fainted; Fearlings were starting to go through the windows towards her portals.

The main room was a very wide room, sort of like a ballroom. It had moonstones mounted on the crystal walls and columns; seven tall, rectangular crystals stood together to make a wide circle, the glass was so smooth you'd think it was water magically standing up. To open one of the portals, all she had to do was place her hand on the glass and think of the place in mind.

Willow shook and before she could stop herself, she morphed to her Wisp form. She looked much like her Wisps except that she was taller, with a more defined shape. Where her legs were was a dress look alike that faded downwards. Willow let out a loud hum and flew at the Fearlings, emaciating them with blue light that shone from her. They screeched as her light touched them, but that didn't stop them from going at her; Willow mentally sighed, at least they didn't care of her portals now. She flew around, leading the Fearlings away from her palace, she flew through windows, gates, room, and walls, all the while the black horde of Fear flew after her.

Finally, she made it outside, she watched as the Wisps she had left before remove the last Fearling with them, even Wispioni was with them. The horse spotted her and neighed a greeting, she nodded in reply.

Suddenly, a blow hit her side, which should've been impossible since she was a Wisp now. Willow looked around with shiny white eyes and watched the horde of Fearlings come towards her. The Wisps also noticed and stood behind her, ready for their next command.

'_Leave_' she hummed.

The Wisps looked at their master, shocked.

'_But, Mistress!_'

'_They're too many!_'

'_You'll get hurt!_'

'_We don't want you to die!_'

She gave them a stern glare.

'_Now._'

They hummed in panic; Willow glanced over her shoulder and saw the Fearlings so near. As quick as lightning she back handed the Wisps away, making them fly a good distance away from the danger. Willow glowed hard, very hard, and flew head first into the black mass. The Fearlings' screeches were deafening as they disappeared, the light tearing them apart. Willow slashed through them with her arms of light, blowing out breaths of her glow.

The Fearlings gathered at her, ready to tear _her_ apart. All the Wisps stopped humming, watching in horror as the Fearlings started to attack the blue center. A bright light erupted as Willow gave out the last of her energy, defeating almost all the Fearlings. The black shadows flew away momentarily; Willow was no longer in her Wisp form, but she still kept in the air with her dagger ready for any other attacks. However, it was plain that she was tired.

The Wisps screamed, the wall of blue light Willow had put up to keep them from coming to her still wouldn't budge.

'_No!_'

'_Come back!_'

'_Please!_'

'_Mistress, you'll die!_'

Wispioni watched with the Wisps in horror as a Fearling attack Willow from behind, the girl was oblivious and so flew a couple of meters forward from the attack. She let out a cry and held her hand at her waist; Wispioni let out the screech that was known to come from Nightmares.

Willow grasped the wound in her side and bit her lip; she couldn't go on any longer, she was going to die. But she won't give up, she couldn't! She weakly held up her dagger and tried to get rid of the blurry haze that set over her eyes. She saw black figures coming her way and she waved her dagger, she was sure that it hit something. But then the black things overwhelmed her, engulfing her and hitting her from every side. Something hit her wound and she let out a pained scream.

Wispioni neighed; she was not a full Wisp, she was still half Nightmare. Without thinking, She tore through the wall and ran towards the Fearlings, kicking them with her legs and biting at them.

"_Rach…air falbh…Wispi_…" (go away, Wispi) Willow murmured, whimpering from the white hot, throbbing pain in her side.

Wispioni did her best to get her message through.

'_**NO!**_'

Willow scowled, but it looked more like a grimace, "Wispi…oni… _fàg_…"

One Fearling that escaped the Wispmare's wrath flew towards the Mistress of the Wisps and hit her head.

The Wisps were screaming frantically, the wall started to ebb away. With their work done, the Fearlings left to attack another spirit.

Willow's eyes rolled back and she started to fall towards the icy snow below.

The Wisps flew frantically towards their master, but no matter what they did, they couldn't halt her plummet.

Now the Wisp, as helpful as they can be, are as naïve as a child who has never seen the real world. So, when they saw their master in danger, they naturally told Wispioni to go get help from Willow's friend. And of course, the Wispmare galloped away towards Burgess.

* * *

So far, Mysie's time as a normal person was great. She had friends, a good home, good clothes, warm food…Her mother was more relaxed, her older brothers and sisters weren't always away to scavenge for food.

The blonde girl skipped home from school with a few of her friends, she was in an especially good mood because of Willow's visit yesterday. They played around, made each other hairstyles, had a tea party (with many Wisps), and tried to convince her mother that Willow was Will o' the Wisps…which failed.

"Och, dew any o' ye kno' 'boot tha' Will o' tha' Wisps?" she said as she kept up with her friends.

"Aye! I kno' them!" One girl, a red haired girl named Alison said, "They're faeries that laed ye t'yer faet!"

"Yer just saein' whit ya haerd in Brave." Cait, a tall, dirty blond girl retorted.

A boy with brown hair asked, "So?"

"So," Cait completed, "yew dinna kin whit yer talkin' 'boot, Dave."

Mysie grinned, "I kno' 'boot tha' Will o' tha' Wisps."

Everyone turned to her, "Raelly?" a short, shy, black haired boy named Gilroy asked.

She nodded, "Aye." They reached the park and sat somewhere, "Tha' Will o' tha' Wisps is a girl-"

"But isnnae 'Will' a lad's name?" Alison asked.

Mysie nodded, "Waell, aye, but Will's short fer Willowiana."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"She's tall an' has fair, white skin like Snow White an' she's goe _pure_ _dead_ long, silky hair that's as black as the earl of Hell's waistcoat. She can fly an' maek blae licht from her hands."

"Whit 'boot tha' Wisps?"

"Tha' Wisps ar wee balls o'blae light that sing t'talk."

Everyone pondered over the great knowledge they just received.

Then, Gilroy piped, "Can we meet her? I want t'meet Willowiana!"

"Me tew"

"An' me!"

"Well, onl' t'maek sure yer nae fibbin'."

Mysie grinned, "O'course, follow meh, I kno' whaur she lives!"

The children followed the golden headed child, dodging leaves and branches and jumping over gnarled roots. They came to a clear area with flowers all around, in the center was a bit of ground that rose a bit more than the rest like a small hill. But there were no Wisps, nor any girls that looked like a mixture between Snow White and Rapunzel.

Everyone glanced at Mysie.

"Whaur's she, Mysie? I thoucht yew said she's here." Cait asked.

"M-Maybe she's busy an' went t'dew her werk."

The other children agreed, after the knowledge they received from their newest friend, whatever she said now seemed plausible.

* * *

Like every day he went to spread a bit of his black sand, his lair was always a welcoming place to go back to. It was cold and dark and…oh, just thinking about sleeping in a dark cocoon was making him smile. The moon was high in the sky, Pitch watched his tendrils of black sand fly through the sky to children's homes.

Onyx neighed.

"That's enough, Onyx, we've done enough. Go on now and watch over the Nightmares." He got closer for emphasize, "Make sure the new Nightmares are born properly, leave a mark for Sanderson, and guide the Nightfillies to the next target. _Do not_ scare any children and _do not_ give an already courage-ified child. Do I make myself clear?"

Onyx scowled and but nodded anyways, she called on a few of her sisters and they ran into the night sky.

Pitch sighed and ran a hand down his face, he was tired. He turned around to enter his lair but was surprised to find,

"Wispioni? What are you doing here?"

The mare was not in her usual calm state, her mane flew around her head with an invisible wind and patches of darkness blotched her blue body. Her silver white eyes were wide with panic and she drove her hoof into the ground every now and then.

Pitch recognized this behavior from his Nightmares, she was worried and anxious. "What's wrong?"

It neighed an answer.

Pitch's eyes widened, "Willow? What's wrong? What happened?"

It started to get ready to go into the air,

'_No time to explain, she's in trouble, she needs help!_'

All traces of tiredness was gone, Pitch got on her back and in no time the Wispmare ran through the air towards the North Pole.

* * *

**OH NO! I KILLED WILLOW! AHH!**

**...**

**..or did I?**

**I know that if she's dead (which she could be) you all are gonna kill me, yes? I'll take that as a yes.**

**There's a reason why I called Willow a Light Spirit...she uses light. Her Wisps are made of innocent soul woven with pure light and she uses light to, say, attack with like she did with Jack in the last chapter. Hope I didn't confuse anyone.**

**Now THAT'S a lot of Gaelic, no?**

**Sop Glinn is probably my favorite place now. I got some details from Tooth's Palace and I read a few fanfics with Jack having his own castle or making one and I made up this really pretty picture in my mind. Where the glass was so smooth it looked like water is reference to King and Prophet Solomon (Peace be Upon him). He used to have a magnificent castle, the floors were made of crystals, it was so clear it was mistaken as water when the Queen of Sheiba visited him and she lifted her dress to keep it from getting wet. Sorry! Sorry, I'll stop my religious lesson now :P**

**I chose the North Pole as her location because, well 6 months of morning and another 6 for night. So imagine having the sun for six months in a crystal castle, the light show would be awesome!**

**Whose happy to see Wispioni again? I am!**

**Yes, I included new OC's, Mysie's new friends after her family stopped being poor. If you're wondering if I'm referencing to something, then yes again, I'm referencing to Jamie and his gang. A third yes, I'll bring Jamie over soon.**

**When I wrote 'Nightfillies' I'm playing around with 'Nightmares'. Night mares, mares are female horses so fillies are female baby horses, yes?**

**Cliff hanger, ack! Don't kill me!**

**Well, same old, same old people:**

**5 reviews (if you can go to 10, you'll make me happy!)**

**and someone guess who I meant by 'Peter' I mentioned earlier. Hint: he's a bit like Jack Frost, he's irresponsible, thinks everything's a joke or a game, has a sidekick, looks a bit like a fairy or an elf.**


	9. Chapter9:Open Your Eyes,Sweetheart,Pleas

**Hello again! early update, yay! Consider this an apology for being late before, 'kay?**

**AAAAAnd the winner for the last contest was...**

**Hoda Moustafa! You go, girl!**

**The answer was Peter Pan! (I seriously LOVE the Disney movies)**

**Now I've got one heck of a surprise, and I'm sure y'all are just itching to know if Willow is (most probably) dead or not. Because of how much I like making people frown occasionally from a joke or prank, this is not only an apology but it is seriously gonna bring out some flames in those reviews :P**

**And I'm ready for ya! Gots mah cookin' mittens, firetruck, more water hoses, a couple tanks of fire extinguisher, and JACK FROST! HAHAHA! (and I _may_ have stolen some balloons and filled them with water)**

**Jack: *shakes uncontrollably* B-But I don't want to fight off fire...**

**Me: *crazy gleam in eye* No, you WILL assist me! *crazy laugh***

**Jack: *backs away slowly* I...I'm, uh,...Coffee break! *runs out of room***

* * *

Chapter 9: Open Your Eyes, Sweetheart, Please

* * *

North walked through the Globe room, humming a tune of a favorite artist. Things were wonderful now, Christmas was on its way soon and wonder would be reawakened in the children. He did not sense any activity of Pitch or other evil forces and no one told him of any, so everything was wonderful. He took the stray sculpting hammer from an elf and frowned at the elf, "You are under-boot _and_ steal from under-nose?"

The elf ran away.

He thought he heard a cry far away, but decided against it, so much noise in his workshop sometimes did that.

North shrugged and put the small hammer back in his belt when he got _The Feeling_.

Now, for as long as his friends knew him, no one _ever_ argued with The Feeling. If his belly told him Pitch was coming, then Pitch was coming; if his belly told him Christmas would be a blast then Christmas would be a blast; if his belly told him Christmas was better than Easter then Christmas was better than Easter. Sure, Bunny would try proving him wrong ever once in a while, but still, no one tried to prove him wrong when he had The Feeling.

So when a moonbeam hit the 'G' on the ground and had the words 'Be Careful' written so clearly even a blind man would've seen them, The Feeling told him to take those words to heart.

* * *

Yeah, I know! You all were expecting me to complete from where we last left off in the last chapter, didncha? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I got a few more bits here before I start off with the possibility (which is extremely great) of Willowiana being dead. I mean, I asked out loud if Willow was dead and my stomach spoke to me in stomach language, so if it works with North, why not me?

Ohhh…

I was hungry :P

Let's get back then, shall we?

Oh, one last bit, don't try skipping this and go to the end to see our heroine's fate. I have cameras in your homes and see what you do (wink wink, Mystichawk).

* * *

Tooth, at rare moment, sometimes took a break to her private chambers. It wasn't often, but sometimes she just needed to clear her mind, she wasn't a machine.

The tooth fairy flew through the doors of her room and looked around; the floors were pale pink ceramic that were so clean one could see their face in it. The room was a bit smaller than Willow's main room, large enough for freedom but small enough for a cozy feeling. A wide bed sat in the middle of her room that had its pillow and sheets in shades of pink and peach, maybe the occasional golden. A golden vanity sat against it with perfume bottles, a special feather brush, accessory combs, and her crown. At the other end of the room was a large closet that was more salmon than pink with golden framing and delicate golden handles. A large window with pale, billowing curtains sat to the wall adjacent to the closet and door's wall. In the middle of the wall in front of the door's wall was a wide mirror that gave Tooth a complete view of herself.

The queen studied herself in the mirror, she so did not look like what she was before. She used to have large, feathers wings and her head feathers were more like hair. She used to wear her silks and her crown. Now, she felt like she was barely more than a common fairy.

Why did she look different? Simple, in the time between her carination as Queen of the Tooth Fairies and the last battle with Pitch, the Monkey King that killed her parents put a spell on her, binding her sabers to her wings and turning them to the insect wings she had now and weakening her overall state so she wouldn't look so much as a queen. Even her minions were affected by this, which was why they all had similar wings.

Tooth sighed and brushed a hand over a wing; wouldn't it be lovely to return to her former glory?

* * *

**Alright, alright, I think that's enough, enough torture, right? Here you go, I hope you actually read what happened up there.**

* * *

The wind rushed at them as the mare ran at top speed, she didn't even slow down for her rider. Wispioni could hear the Wisps' frantic thoughts, beckoning her to hurry. She let out a worried neigh and darted onwards.

Pitch had fistfuls of the Wispmare's mane in his grasp and practically plastered himself to her lest he'd fall. But he wasn't paying attention to himself, his mind whirled with questions and possible -_gruesome_- answers for them. Where was she? Was she dead? What happened to her? Was it the Guardians of Childhood? Did they find out of what had been happening for the past two weeks and decided to punish her? What if Jack Frost told them? What if she's dead? What if…

Pitch felt the jumpy feeling of fear in his chest, yes he was afraid, he was afraid for his friend. She had become almost like a daughter to him, if she was hurt -_if anyone laid a finger on her hair_- he would make sure to make the life of whoever hurt her _hell_.

He watched as the dark sky turn to morning as they reached the North Pole, a sinking feeling filled him as he saw Santoff Claussen, but the feeling soon disappeared when Wispioni passed it as though it were nothing.

They passed many mountains, glaciers, and other natural ice sculptures until they rode over plain, white ground. There was nothing out of the ordinary, just snow, snow, and more snow. That is, until Wispioni changed her course, going downwards to the ground. Pitch watched as the ground started to become closer and that was when he noticed the Wisps circling a patch of snow with a black figure in it. As soon as Wispioni stopped moving and lowered her head to the black thing did Pitch's heart sink. He jumped off the horse and scrambled to the figure, "Willow!"

The light spirit's small form was on her side with her arms away from her body and her hair sprawled in all directions like water. Her face was buried in the snow and she showed no signs of movement.

Pitch touched her head, trying to refrain from shaking her, he didn't know the damage yet. "Willow, dear, get up." He said shakily.

The Wisps pulled at her hair and tried to get to her face; Pitch moved her to her back, her face was inert and blank save for the faint grimace on her delicate but sharp features. Pitch rubbed one of the bruises on her face, many blotted her pale skin.

"Willowiana, open your eyes, _please_." He found himself saying as his eyes traveled down her body, trying to see anymore damage. His eyes widened when he noted the red blotches in the snow next to her and the bit of snow stuck at her side, slowly turning red.

"Oh, no, Willow!" he cried, he snapped his fingers and soon Onyx stood before him in a flash of black sand. She gave him an annoyed face.

'Why do you send me away and then call me in the middle of-'

"Not now, Onyx." He muttered as he got on her and kept the girl's body steady with just one arm. He drove his ankles in her side and his horse responded immediately by running as fast as black sand would across a smooth, steep surface. He glanced at the girl's head with her face buried in his chest.

"_Please_, dear, _please_ open your eyes."

* * *

Far away, in the sleeping city of London, a golden and small being darted through the air while spreading the sound of bells.

Panicking blue eyes darted from one place to another, those shadows, they could be any-

She sprayed a being from behind her with pixie dust and flew again, her wings beat as fast as a pixie could. She looked up at the moon and pleaded, _oh, Manny, please help me!_

Later she would dismiss it to her fright, but the moon actually looked darker.

She shook her head with the sound of bells and flew again, her hands readied at her belt, ready to pull out her wand.

Screeching filled the air behind her and the fairy whizzed around, pulling out her wand. A silver stick with a pointed end slashed through the shadows but soon she exhausted and coupled with her loss of believers in fairies, she could go on no more. She did nothing as tendrils of shadows grabbed at her and pulled her through a portal, thus removing any signs of her existence.

* * *

_With only a hundred years on her and she was doing great. It wasn't very hard to figure out her job, lead people to the picture that comes up in her head, easy. She didn't need to be seen, didn't need to be touched, she was a legend around the humans._

_The forest she was born in was a wonderful place for walks, not many people came into it…at least, not so early in the morning. Which was why she was just randomly walking through it at the moment, humming a tune of something she never heard before._

_Something rustled on her right, making her go stiff. Her eyes darted to and fro. Suddenly, something wrapped around her ankle and raised her off the ground, upside down. She let out a terrified scream and shut her eyes._

"_No, Onyx, she's not the one. Are you colorblind? She's clearly not green and blue and certainly isn't made of feathers." A pause, "Better question: are you blind altogether?! She's more hair than body! Can you not clearly see that?"_

_Willow cracked one eye open; in front of her was a tall man in a black cloak and strangely a thin, golden sword you only saw in Europe. He had very pale skin, like her, only instead of a bluish glow it was more golden. He held himself with a regal air._

"_I'm sorry, my Nightmare is not very well tonight," he chuckled, "a bump to the head, I believe."_

_She watched him with wide eyes._

"_What?" he grinned, showing off his sharp teeth, "Horse got your tongue?"_

_There was a moment of silence before she spoke, "I kno' yew."_

_He cocked his head in wonder, and she didn't know if it was for her accent or her statement._

"_Yer…yer the Horse Rider, aye? Yer the ane who instills…"_

"_Courage?"_

_She nodded._

"_Hmm, it seems my fame precedes me. Well, if we've gone this far," he held out his hand, "Pitch Black."_

_She smiled and held out her hand, "Willowiana, or more commonly known as, Tha' Will o' tha' Wisps."_

_His eyes opened up a bit from the looking down he was doing to her, "The Mistress of the Wisps?"_

_She nodded shyly._

_He smiled again, "Charmed, darling." He murmured as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it in a very gentlemanly way. _

_Willow blushed._

.

.

.

_It was terrible, the Great War, spirits had fought against each other, but it was mostly between the new Guardians of Childhood consisting of new spirits Manny had chosen over the years because of defeating some former war general named Kozmotis Pitchiner and the Bringer of Courage, King of the Nightmares, Pitch Black. She didn't know the details but the Guardians of Childhood were still feeling their way and Pitch's way weren't appealing to them so they decided he's evil blah, blah, blah…_

_She ran through a forest -she didn't remember where it was- panting harshly not from exhaustion, but from panic. Apparently Pitch decided everyone hated him and so sent his Nightmares after the first spirit that came his way, she just so happened to be the one._

_She heard the sound of hooves behind her, getting steadily louder -she knew this was wrong, that this never happened, but it was so real- and she was stuck on the ground, unable to move._

_The Nightmares finally arrived with their master, eyes filled with nothing but malice, he was so full of hate he probably didn't recognize her. He glared down at her, Willow crumpled against herself, desperate to leave,_

"_Please! Leave me alone! I dinna do anything t'yew!" she hiccupped, "I-I thoucht we waur friends."_

_Shadows appeared all over, wrapping around her, Pitch leered at her._

"_That's where the problem lies, my dear." He whispered._

.

.

.

_Tooth sat with her in the ravine at her palace, listening to her complain._

"…_an' every time I swatch him, he starts gaein' mad an' glowers at meh like 'tis ma' fault he ended up the way he's."_

_Tooth nodded with every word, "I'm sorry, Willa, he just…he did some bad things and doesn't want to admit them, he thinks what he's doing is right."_

_Willow sighed and trailed her hands in the water, "Whit's eatin' me up's that we waur friends before."_

_Suddenly, Tooth's expression changed to one of fury -some part of her knew this never happened, but that part left her as fast as it came-, "You were friends with that…that thing? I thought we could trust you, Willa!"_

"_N-Nae…Tooth, we waurn't __friends__ friends, he onl' spoke t'me a few times!" Willow stuttered in fear._

_She watched as Tooth rose from sitting, her sharp wings beating hard as she snapped her fingers, her flying elephants appeared with chains, ready for the prisoner, "You are evil, Willow, now leave and don't you dare come back or I'll chain you up and send you to the Monkey King!"_

.

.

.

_She dragged Jack to his forest, he was confused but compelled anyways._

"_Come on, Jack, 'tis wonderful! I made ye's ice sculptures, figures, everything t'try an' gae yew believers!"_

"_Alright, alright," he chuckled, "Coming."_

_They came to his pond, it was a winter wonderland, so many humans were here looking at the marvelous works._

"_So, hauw's ye like it?"_

_Suddenly, he scowled and turned to her, "How could you, Will?!" he yelled, "Is this a sick joke? Tell me this is a sick joke, because you do __not__ expect me to laugh after you __ruined my home__, Willow!"_

_She cringed, "…Jack, I-"_

_He held up his staff, "Get out of my sight before I kill you." He hissed_.

.

.

.

_The whole place was dark, so eerily dark, but she just knew to stay hidden lessen she'd be found._

"_Where'd she go?"_

"_Isn't she here?"_

"_She's gotta be here!"_

"_Come out, ya ova' grown glowworm!"_

_Willow cringed and hid further in her hiding place._

"_There she is!"_

"_Go get her!"_

_Willow cried and sprinted from her hiding place, glancing over her shoulder at the angry mob behind her. She fell through a hole and landed in a colder area, with cages hanging around._

"_Well, well, well, if it isn't Will of the Wisps." A velvety voice purred._

_She got up and came face to face with the Nightmare King._

_He did a show and inhaling deeply, "Ah, afraid aren't we?" he started to stroll, "Afraid of being betrayed, yes?"_

_Only her eyes traveled with him._

_He laughed and disappeared, "Poor girl, poor, innocent, naïve girl." He appeared at an opposite wall, and gestured with his arms, "This is what you were afraid of, wasn't it? Everyone turning their backs on you, everyone misunderstanding you, all because of reaching out naïvely to the Boogieman."_

_She whimpered as she heard the sound of people banging and demanding to be let in._

"_Afraid of your own comrades." He said with a chuckle, his voice suddenly reaching every nook and cranny "And worst of all, you're afraid your alliance with your new 'friend' will become nothing but dust."_

_She murmured, "Wh-Why ar yew dewin' this t-t'me…?"_

"_Didn't they tell you, Willow?" He pointed at her, "You're a traitor, Willowiana. A low, dirty traitor." He gestured to the globe, with blue lights flickering, "Isn't your decline in believers a sign?"_

"_A sign t'whit?" she squeaked._

"_That yer time's up." A familiar Aussie voice said._

_Pitch's cackle filled the room as spirits of every size, shape, color, and job came towards her._

.

.

.

_The Man in the Moon…_

_You are Willowiana, a disgrace to immortals._

.

.

.

_Hey…it's the evil one_

_Long time no see, Sheila, shoulda stayed in yer trees 'fore ya make things werse_.

.

.

.

_I was afraid this might happen, Willa…girls, get her!_

.

.

.

_Look, girl, I don't believe I know what's gotten into you, but I'm not your father. And even if I was, I wouldn't want any relationship with you, a traitor to her own kind._

.

.

_. _

_But you know what the worst is? You tried to reach out to me, the times you tried to get nearer was the worst time in my life._

_._

_._

_._

_But you saw him, you saw him and kept it a secret from us. Traitor!_

_._

_._

_._

_I have __no__ idea what ya just jabbered on 'bout now, no excuse will prove you innocent…you've been caught red handed_

_._

_._

_._

_Honestly, you look like you were trampled on by a group of bulls…too bad it didn't happen._

_._

_._

_._

_Willow? Ahh, tha' traitor, aye, I remember yew._

_._

_._

_._

_Tsk, tsk, tsk, and __just__ when I started to warm up to you, Willow._

_._

_._

_._

_You, being a noble spirit resorting to betraying._

_._

_._

_._

_Hey, don't look at __me__ like that, I'm not the one who betrayed anybody._

.

.

.

Pitch watched as the girl winced and muttered 'No' many times, he saw tears going down her face, he could feel fear emitting from her…too much for his liking. He placed a hand at her head, this fear was not natural, not at all. There was a source for it, something external…from a Fearling. He moved his hands slowly, trying to find the source until he found a bump at the back of her head…which burned him.

He narrowed his eyes, the Fearlings _knew_ he'd try to save her?

The bump was getting smaller as it fed into her dreams, filling her head with horrible, twisted memories, turning everything dark.

He sighed, defeated, and brushed her cheek, "I'm so sorry, Willow."

Pain, that was the first thing she remembered coming to her. It covered her whole body dully, then she became aware of it in her head, a horrible headache, and finally her stomach. Then, she became aware of the soft covers over her and the cozy pillows under her head. Finally, something hit her eardrums, so soft, so soothing, so nostalgic.

"…_Sùilean òrdha, òrdha, òrdha  
Sùilean òrdha aig m' eudail  
Sùilean òrdha, òrdha, òrdha  
Cuin a thig thu plaosg_ s_ùilean_?"

_Gold, gold, gold eyes,  
My sweetheart has gold eyes.  
Gold, gold, gold eyes,  
When will you open your eyes_?

Willow moved her head, barely, to locate the direction of the sound, in her head the next lines of the song pounded so hard against her skull:

_Cha tèid mise mach a-nochd.  
Cha tèid mise chèilidh.  
Cha tèid mise mach a-nochd.  
Is dùil agam ri m' eudail_.

_I will not go out tonight,  
I will not go visiting.  
I will not go out tonight,  
because I expect my sweetheart._

The song from whoever was singing stopped and a familiarly smooth voice said in shock, "Willow?"

She inwardly froze, did she sing that part out loud? She cracked open her eyes, wincing from the light -_even if it was low_-. It was dark, but she managed to make out the shapes of a few pieces of furniture, most of them black with hints of gold. Many candles were lit around the room, giving it a warm feeling.

Two arms wrapped around her, hugging her, and Pitch kept saying, "Oh, thank god, thank god you're alive."

The twisted memories were still fresh in her mind, tears reappeared in her eyes and started to fall, accompanied with sobs and whimpers. She held onto Pitch's coat and buried her face in it. His body stiffened but didn't do anything to show he was mad, no, instead he held her, rubbing her head without any words.

" 'twas pure dead…rael." She sobbed, "Everybody hated meh, th-they wanted me gone 'cause they thoucht I-I's…a traitor."

"Nobody hates you, Willow." He murmured, "And you're not a traitor."

She sniffed, "Yew were…mad at meh…yew said I's a bother an'….tha' Graet War…yew tried t'kill meh…"

He stiffened.

"…Tooth…she hated meh….everyone tried t'go aftar meh 'cause I's visitin' yew…Jack goe mad 'cause I tried t'gae 'im believers…" she burst into tears.

He stroked her head, "But none of those things happened, I promise you. When you go back to your work and run into someone, they won't try to do any of those things, they won't hate you…I don't hate you."

She calmed down, and soon her quaking shoulders stayed still.

When he was sure she calmed down, Pitch pulled her away gently and went down to her eye level, "Now tell me, how did you get hurt like this?"

Her brow quirked in confusion, "Hauw…?" the pain came back and she winced, holding her head. It all rushed back to her, the castle, the Wisps, the fighting, the portals, the morphing, and…falling. She remembered the black masses of the Fearlings coming towards her, hitting her from every side before pushing her downwards towards the snow…or something like that. She sucked in a breath and let it out shakily through her teeth as she drove the heel of her hand into her forehead to rid herself of the headache.

"Willow." He held both her shoulders, "I need you to tell me what happened."

The girl worried on her lip, she didn't want to tell anyone, not Jack, not the Guardians, not Pitch. She glanced at his face, he was waiting patiently for an answer, this was a rare moment she didn't see any of his pride or ego get in the way. Willow looked back at her hands, "Sop Glinn was under attack."

He looked completely and utterly confused, "Soap…Gli…what?"

"Sop. Glinn." She said, " 'tis Gaelic fer 'Wisp Fortress'."

He nodded slowly in understanding, "And which spirit attacked you…your home?"

Her eyes darted left before flitting back to her hands, "Dinna kin."

He raised a brow, "Willow."

"Dinna kin." She said sternly and tried to sit up straight, but then pain filled her abdomen and she moaned, her hand instinctively flew to her wound. Suddenly her eyes widened and she looked down; her trademark wispy waistcoat was gone, only her shirt remained. She looked around, "M-Ma' jacket, whaur is-"

A few Wisps appeared, holding the familiar article of clothing.

Willow relaxed.

Both spirits sat in silence for a moment until Willow said, "Wait, yew dressed ma' wounds?"

"Yes, why?"

"Wow. That's…weird?"

Pitch raised a brow, "Why?"

She blushed, "Ye saw ma' stomach?"

Pitch eyed her for a moment and chuckled, he got up and ruffled her hair, "Go back to sleep, Willow."

* * *

**Oh...my...god, I think I overdid the fluff here. Or maybe not.**

***prepares weapons* Like I said, *shoots a squirt of the fire extinguisher and blows the tip of the hose*, I'm ready.**

**Ookay:**

**Alright, I'll admit that I added the two bits of Tooth and North to get on your nerves, but they are also crucial points in the story. I want explain North's bit, but for Tooth, gladly. See, after I saw her picture in the books with feathered wings and all that, I really _really _loved it and I tried imagining what would Tooth look like if she had feathered wings? Don't get me wrong, she's absolutely GORGEOUS in the Dreamworks version, but in my opinion she didn't strike me as a queen at all, I only knew she was 'Queen of the Tooth Fairies' after I read it on wiki. Then I was like 'why not return her to her former glory'?**

**So I made up this little tale that the Monkey King wanted his revenge on Tooth and so cast a spell binding her sabers to her wings and weakening her overall. Now the question is IF the spell will be broken or not...hmmm, I dunno.**

**Basically, the Nightmares that Willow was having was because when that Fearling hit her head, it left a scar (or bump, as I wrote) that knocked her unconscious and twisted her memories of her immortal life. It's only the first one that was alright, the one where she and Pitch met. As for the lines I kept hunting my fanfic for some lines and altered them to suit the Nightmares.**

**Ok, here's my version of the Guardians and all that blah since I threw in a bit of stuff up there:**

**After the events of the books up until they were all gathered as a team, they became the official Guardians of Childhood for children everywhere, but they had to stay on Earth (I know, most of them are from Earth). They had defeated Pitchiner and completely obliterated him and his Fearlings. But when they arrived -sans Sandy, remember? he worked on earth with Pitch- they were unsure of their ways, they were still knew to Guardian business and as soon as they found out about Pitch giving children Nightmares, it reminded them of Kozmotis Pitchiner and mistook Pitch's intentions as bad, which resulted in the Great War that engaged almost every spirit alive.**

**So see, here Koz and Pitch are two, COMPLETELY different people. I mean, I looked at Koz's picture from the books and god that did not look like Pitch Black AT ALL.**

***Looks up* wow, that's a long A/N, that could fit a whole chapter!**

**So, I'll leave now before I say anything else with:**

**Please, 5 reviews (seriously, ten will make me happy, but expect that because OMG! *dodges flames* yeah, that)**

**Someone guess who was stolen this time by the Fearlings and you'll get a virtual cheesecake-pie-sandwiches, cherry flavored, with whipped cream and a white chocolate covered strawberry on top...or Cheetos, if sweets aren't your thing :P**


	10. Chapter 10: The Bad Darkness

***music from when Jamie pulled up his hand with the tooth* Ladies and gentlemen, I'm alive! *random applause* Now where on earth did that come from? *innocent look that totally shows its fake* Me? I have nothing to do with it, and no, random reader, I did not hire more than a hundred people to come and clap for me for a few minutes.**

**Anyways, I'm sure you all want to kill me right now for not updating in a while, but a lot of things happened. I traveled and was planning to update there, but my old laptop must've got hit while in my bag, so it decided to go in a coma and I was stuck with no writing for TEN FREAKIN' DAYS! After that, when I came home, I open laptop for the heck of testing it and what do you? It opens _totally normal_, like it didn't give me a heart attack or anything. I seriously was ready to smash it to bits at that moment, but if I did, I wouldn't present you with this totally wonderful (maybe) chapter.**

**Oh, yes, the competition winner is...:**

**Hoda Moustafa! *claps like mad* yay! *turns to hulk* I SAID CLAP! *hired people clap* The answer was Tinkerbell.**

**TwixyReitz, don't be sad, at least you're the...:**

**Second winner! *hired people again***

**So, if you don't remember what happened last chapter, just go and quickly skim it so you can refresh yourself.**

**One last bit, i mentioned on my profile that I needed one more review to be able to post this chapter. So, because of the lovely review from xXMeicoonXx, I am dedicating this chapter to you! You love Willow? She loves you too!**

**Without further ado, I present to you...**

* * *

Chapter 10: The Bad Darkness (Sometime, the title of this story is wrong).

* * *

Jack paced around, a million thoughts passed through his head. The look of pure terror on Willow's face had made him worry…greatly. He had worried so much he couldn't concentrate on his work, which was why he ended up in the South Pole.

A gust of cool air blew past him: _What worries you, frost child?_

Jack ran a hand through his hair worriedly, "Willow, I saw her three days ago and I haven't seen her since," he started to walk again, talking with his hands, "a Wisp came and told her something…she got all scared and got out her dagger…like she was going to start fighting."

Sylphid watched him with worry as she worried on her lip; she saw what happened, the girl's home was attacked and she came to defend it…but it was all for naught because in the end Willow was terribly injured. But she saw the Nightmare King come to her aid: _Do not worry, Jack, she's in good hands now_.

The boy sighed and ran his hand down his face as he shook his head slowly, "You sure, Wendy? I'm really-" he then froze, "Wait, what do you mean 'in good hands'?"

Sylphid froze, her winds coming to a halt as she realized let something horrible slip, a weak breeze blew Jack's way: _N-Nothing, Jack, I meant she's fine_…

Jack raised a brow and cocked his head at the transparent silhouette of the Spirit of the Wind, "…Wendy…? There's something…I need to know, right?" he said with the innocence of a child.

She shook her head: _No, child, I need not to enlighten you anymore. Will of the Wisps was injured and_-

Jack froze, "She's injured?!" he cried. He held up his staff and started to float in the air.

_No, no, Jack, that's not what I me_-

He held his hair in one hand, "I…" he took a gulp of air, "I gotta go…Wendy…must tell the Guardians…" he murmured as he flew towards North's Workshop.

_Wait, Jack!_ She called, but he was already a speck in the distance. Her silver eyes flitted in worry: _I've…got to warn the Nightmare King!_

Now, as much as she showed Pitch her cold side in their last conversation, Sylphid didn't hate him, not at all, but it was crucial to hide her kindness behind her cold exterior in order to keep both him and herself out of danger. Ever since the Great War and Pitch's turn towards the wrong use of his Nightmares, Sylphid harbored hope that one day his mind would clear of any hatred in order for him to see back to his proper purpose. So when she found out he had reverted back to instilling Courage, she had been ecstatic but kept her joy at bay because she felt that sooner or later his actions would come to light. And then, she would stand by his side and right the wrong she did so many years ago.

But now, she had more pressing matters to see to than reminiscing over her memories. She had to warn him of the coming threat.

* * *

"Absolutely no, Willow."

The girl groaned, "_Please_, Da."

He gave her a pointed, sideways look.

She cringed a bit, "Um…P-Pitch," she flew forward a couple of feet to keep up with him, "Am _fine_, luk! All ma' bruises ar gone an' tha' Nightmares dinna come back anymore! All 'tis left's tha' wee scar on meh _stamag_!" (stomach)

Pitch slowed down in his walk and pinched the bridge of his nose, "You know, it's become _very_ hard to understand you when you keep throwing in a Gaelic word every now and then." he snapped.

She was a bit taken back from his sudden snappy attitude, but nevertheless rolled her eyes and said in a loud voice while going a few feet in the air from anger, "Yew just saie a _whole_ sentence in Gaelic a few days ago! Whaur did that come from, then?"

"I don't know!" he said as he whirled around to face her, "It just came as so, that's it. Sans the last incident I never spoke a single word in Gaelic my entire life!" he turned around and started to walk again only a bit faster, he was almost to the main room.

"Ugh, Pi-_itch_!" she yelled as she started to fly again, "Come back here!"

He shook his head and said without turning his head, "No, Willow, I'm not going to fight with you. You are _not_ leaving this place until I'm sure you've healed completely." The image of the young girl sprawled in the snow made him shiver about what would happen if she was attacked again.

She winced when she felt the dull pain in her stomach come back from flying too much, she let out a pained breath and started to limp/run towards him, "But…" she sucked in a labored breath, "I need t'gae back t'ma werk, I cannae stay on tha' panal fer so lang…I'll jus' dot ova' t'mah fortress t'maek sure everythin's gauin' fine."

Pitch groaned, "Willow, I'm not-"

She gasped and wrapped her stomach around her waist, doubling over slightly.

He raced to her quickly and removed her arms slowly, he prodded the area where her wound was before keeping his hand there and muttering some words. Tiny tendrils of black sand went to her wound; He looked at her face and raised a brow, "See my point?" he said in a soft voice.

She sighed and ran her hand through her long locks, "Whit did yew dew?"

He stood up and started to walk towards the main room, "It's a spell that temporarily changes the properties of my sand from causing Nightmares to soothing pain."

She nodded her head slowly.

The main room was, in fact, the Globe room but instead of being dark with cages hanging around, the cages were moved aside to make more room as Nightmares started to fly to and fro, bringing in young, black fillies and placing them in cages to nurture until it was their time to go back on the field.

Willow looked around in astonishment, "Och, Loch…" she looked around, the place certainly got brighter and much more louder than the first time she was here. Even the Nightmares looked like they were made more out of tiny black crystals than black sand. She saw the globe and looked at it, confused by the black and gold lights, "Ar tha' black anes tha' ans that stop believin'?"

Pitch shook his head and ran a hand over the globe, "No, the black ones are the ones who still have a fear that needs to be cured. They appear whenever a child falls asleep."

"An' tha' gawden?"

"They are the children who have been cured."

A Nightmare trotted past them with several Nightfillies in tow. It neighed to them soothingly and they all neighed back. Willow smiled as one came her way and boldly sniffed her knee. Willow knelt down and ruffled its mane before the Nightmare called for it and it ran towards its larger counterpart.

"Lovely, aren't they?" Pitch said from behind her.

She stared at them with a faint smile, as if remembering old memories, "Aye…Shona used t'luk like that when she was a wee ane too."

"Who's Shona?"

She faced him, "She used t'be ma' horse when I was mortal. Y-…I goe her on ma' tenth birthday."

He nodded in thought and started to walk away slowly, surveying the work of his minions.

Willow followed him and held his hand to get his attention, he didn't face her but she knew he was listening, "I goe an idea."

"Yes?"

"Yew can come with meh t'_Sop Glinn_ if yer pure worried 'boot meh." She said joyously.

Pitch chocked on thin air and his hand flew to his chest as he started to cough, Willow deadpanned and patted his back, rather hard.

He composed himself and shot her an annoyed look before clasping his hands behind his back, "I'm not worried, I'm following logic. Logic says an injured person -_such as yourself_- should stay put and rest until her injuries heal."

Willow folded her arms and stood with her legs stuck together, reminding him of his exact same pose when he challenged someone wrong and making her look thinner than she already was, "Pitch," she said softly but with a hint of wit, " 'tis pure obvious yer worried." A lopsided smile was present on her lips.

Pitch rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes, now how about we go on about how _heartwarming_-" he clasped his hands over his heart and wore a mock caring expression "-I am and how by reaching out to me, the world burst into rainbows and fairies!"

Willow snorted from behind her hands, "Raelly, Pitch?"

He deadpanned to her, "I was being sarcastic."

She flew to him and tugged at his sleeve, "Come on, Pitch, yew'll be tha' second t'see it in person!"

"Who was the first?"

"Tooth, she helped me build it."

Pitch opened his mouth slightly, like he was about to say something when he froze. Far away, up above, he could hear an unnaturally amount of commotion.

Willow looked at him concerned, "Pitch, Pitch whit's tha' matter?"

Quickly, he faced the Nightmares, "All of you, stop and hide, _now!_"

The Nightmares compelled and the black sand tendrils stopped flowing, disappearing in midair.

Willow worriedly looked around, "Is sumthin' wrong…?"

Pitch grabbed her hand and started to walk briskly, almost sprinting to a nearby shadow. He made sure it was dark enough and left Willow there, "Stay here and don't come out." He said as he rose and started to walk towards the entrance.

He rose out, staying in the shadow of a nearby tree. He shot out his hand and the shadow of the entrance of his home shifted; if anyone tried to enter, they would end up in the cages meant for 'guests'.

The wind blew furiously at him: _Pitch Black, it's not safe here! Leave, you must leave! The Guardians are coming! They are going to hurt you!_

Pitch held his hands over his face, "Lady Sylph, lower your wind, I can't understand you and you'll blow me away."

The winds became softer but were still frantic: _Get away from here, Nightmare King, the Guardians of Childhood are coming to hurt you_!

He frowned, "Why? What have I done?"

_They think you hurt Willow and that you are the cause of her absence, now go!_

Before he could ask her anything else, the sleigh appeared, landing near Pitch's lair entrance. The five Guardians of Childhood stepped out, four were wary and one was trying to persuade them.

"…guys, listen to me! How do you know that he's the one who took Willow? Maybe it wasn't him, maybe it was the Fearlings."

"If it's the Fearlin', mate, then that rat bag's behind it." Bunny said as he walked towards the entrance.

"But he's not the one who controls Fearlings, Bunny, he controls Nightmares!" Jack said, trying to get them to listen.

"Vhat iz difference with Fearling and Nightmare? They both bad, both hurt children, both attack good spiritz." North said.

Tooth flitted over to Jack, "Sweet tooth, we don't know of any other spirits that would harm a spirit other than Pitch, he's the one most probably behind this."

Jack groaned, then he went to Sandy eagerly, "Come on, Sandy, prove to them it's not Pitch. You know it as well as I do."

Sandy bit his lip and looked at his comrades, he formed the picture of Pitch getting smaller and of the five of them towering over him.

"He may be weak, Sandy, but he could've captured Willow t'feed on 'er fear." Bunny said.

"Bunny iz right, Sandy, ve don't know vhat Pitch iz cabable of, better ve make sure." North said.

Bunny peered at the shadows of the entrance, "Hey, Pitch, ya drongo, get outta yer hol, we need t'ave a word with ya!"

Pitch cringed in the shadow he was hiding in, well, it would be better if he diverted them away from his lair -_from Willow, a nagging part told him_-. He sunk into the shadow and reappeared in front of the Guardians, making them take a step back in surprise, "You know, yelling at people's doors is very rude."

Bunny scowled and held up his boomerang, "Where's Willow?"

"Willow?" he shook his head and said in a tone as though it was obvious, "How should I know where the light spirit is? I'm least likely person to know, I'm half shadow. Go ask the Moon, maybe he'd know."

Bunny pounced and before he knew it, Bunny held one arm in one paw and his boomerang in another held at Pitch's throat. Pitch squirmed in discomfort, "You know vhat Bunny means, Pitch. No more games, tell us vhere Villow iz."

"She's not with me at the moment." He said, staring cross eyed at the tip of North's sword pointed between his eyes, he quirked a brow, "You do know I can easily shift into a shadow at any given moment and flee, yes?"

The fairy flew in front of him with a sour scowl, "Tell us where she is, Pitch, unless you don't mind getting a few more quarters."

"She's not with me at the moment, Toothiana! Just because I'm a seemingly dark spirit doesn't mean I go off kidnapping spirits!"

Everyone gave him pointed looks.

He cleared his throat, "Alright, I _may_ have kidnapped the tooth fairies once, but that's _not_ because I'm supposedly dark." He fell through the shadow and reappeared near them through the sleigh's shadow, "Now leave, you are causing more harm than good."

"We're not leavin' 'till you let us search your lair." Bunny said as he brandished his boomerang threateningly.

"Why?" He challenged as he adopted the same pose Willow had back in his lair.

They all frowned at him, sans Jack and Sandy.

"Exactly," he said as he looked idly at the few grains of black sand in his hand, "You're just doing anything to pin the trouble on me."

"_Dammit_, Pitch, we know it's you!" Bunny yelled.

Everyone stared at Bunny before Tooth huffed, "Great, now you made Bunny start cussing."

But no one paid attention to her, instead they were watching North and Sandy try to shut a very badmouthing rabbit.

As fast as lightning, Pitch sprinted to the lair entrance and dived in. His voice echoed from the shadows, "Leave, Guardians, before I trap you in cages." Black sand flew through the entrance, forming into Nightmares, "Or would you like to face off these?"

The Guardians, well, most of them, scowled at the Nightmares before reluctantly going back into the sleigh and flying off into the sky.

Pitch sighed a sigh of relief and his shoulders sagged, he was _this_ close to a fight with them and he was not in the mood for that.

When the few Nightmares he sent outside came back and said it was clear, he snapped his fingers and everything resumed as though nothing happened.

He turned around to the shadow he had hidden Willow in, "You can get out now."

The girl peeked through her hair, "That's pure _litchsome_, Pitch!" she said sarcastically, "Espaesialy because ma' joints ar' numb."

Pitch rolled his eyes, "I have to do _everything_ myself." He muttered as pulled her up in one swift motion.

She straightened out her jacket, pulling a little here and there, "Thank- Argh!" she cried and started to shake her hand.

He watched her in utter confusion, "What on earth…"

She glared at him, " 'ave goe pins an' needles in every bloody limb in ma' body!"

Pitch watched her for a moment; this girl should've been a Randomness spirit…or, judging from her horrible scowl, the angry spirit. But nevertheless, it did look a bit funny, a lady-like spirit that acted and had an aura of regality suddenly act her age. He shook his head and walked towards the Globe Room, barely containing his chuckle.

Willow glowered at his back.

"You know it's very rude to glower at your elders." He said over his shoulder.

Willow's eyes widened slightly in shock, her eyes lingered a few more minutes on the shadows as she went to his side.

His eyes swept over his workers, scrutinizing them with sharp eyes. He clapped his hands once, making the younger one next to him jump (and of course, because her fits are very…amusing, he chuckled loud enough for her to hear), "Well then, since everything seems alright here," he started as he snapped his fingers for Onyx to come to his side, he walked to the exit as he said, "I need to see how it's going in the field."

She quirked a brow and said wittily, "Took up farmin', 'ave yew?"

He scowled, "I couldn't grow something if my life depended on it."

The girl burst into laughter.

It was one of those rare moment, she noted as she disguised studying her father with laughter, that he was smiling without bringing his very thin eyebrows down and looking like he was a mad villain. It was a very true, light smile that made his face look a little brighter (not that his skin was already turning back to glowing pale with a tint of gold like he used to be when she first met him…in this immortal life). She held herself from smiling to herself and instead grinned her typical, teenager smile.

He shook his head ruefully, "I'm going now, and _please_ try to keep this place in one piece."

She giggled, "I'll try."

Unfortunately for the light and dream sand spirits, they did not notice the shadows that were darker than the rest. They opened their ghastly white eyes and glared at the spirits before flowing through a random shadow to their leader.

* * *

The place their leader resided was perhaps the most darkest place of all, a place many shadow loving spirits would love to live in. It was so dark that if one brought a light, it wouldn't glow, it would instead get weaker, as though the darkness were _eating_ it.

In the darkest of the darkest of the most darkest of all darkest places the Fearlings flew to, their bone chilling whispers filling the air.

'**Master, master!**'

'**We have news.**'

'**It's very bad news!**'

'**About Pitch Black**_._'

'**That man we made an alliance with**_._'

'**An alliance he broke**.'

"_**QUIET!**_"

At once, all noises ceased.

"**News, about Pitch Black? King of the Nightmares, yes**?" the person in the darkest of the darkest….blah, blah, you-get-the-picture said.

'**Y-Yes, master**.'

'**He's done something very bad**.'

'**It will ruin our plan**.'

It, the person in the darkest place of this dark place, growled, "**ENOUGH**!"

The Fearlings ceased and stared up at their master.

"**What is the news you **_**bilitharana feuoole**_** want to tell me?**"

* * *

Okay, before I get on with the news, I'm just gonna explain what those two words mean:

Blitharana: Blithering

Feuoole: Fools

Alright, back to the show!

* * *

'**W-Well**,' the Fearling that spoke up glanced at its comrades for a bit of support before turning back to the master, '**Pitch B-Black has not only broken the alliance, but he has also returned to his original job, using Fear for good, for instilling Courage**.'

It was quiet for a moment, and the older Fearlings hopefully thought that maybe the Master accepted the news well.

"**Really?**" It mused, "**No more Nightmares that are for the sake of Fear? No more scaring kids sleepless at night? No more jumping out of beds? Hiding in closest? Creeping in shadows?**"

At each question It received a shake of the head.

"**Well, then**," a shadowy hand shot from the darkest area, grasping a Fearling in its grasp, "**That's a shame, isn't it?**" It said slowly.

The Fearling started to freak out.

'**No, master! Please don't kill me! I'll be good! I'll do whatever you ask! You can use me as a decoy, anything but don't kill me, please! I beg you!**'

It stared at the Fearling for a while, "**I won't kill you, Shadamen…for now. I sense…there is more news, is there not?**"

Shadamen, the Fearling responsible for instilling the phobia of shades, nodded eagerly, '**Yes, yes, there is more. We are losing our grasp on Nightmare King**.'

'**He's become too light**.' Another Fearlings said in its whispery voice.

'**Too bright.**'

'**Too caring.**'

'**The block we created to keep Prince Lunar has deteriorated**.'

'**We're losing our control over him.**'

The person in the darkest shadow stayed silent in thought, "**And it's all because of that light spirit, isn't it? What was it, Jack O'Lantern? The blue one with bobbing blue lights.**"

'**Um, actually, master, Jack O'Lantern isn't the one, Jack O'Lantern is the spirit of Hallow's Eve.**'

"**Wasn't it Lowee Hallows?**"

'**Jack is in charge of the lanterns and guiding the lost souls on Halloween**. **Lowee's in charge of everything else**.'

"**The problem is the **_**leeghbrita**_** spirit**." it stressed, shutting up anymore Fearlings, "**And you **_**waueke**_** lot couldn't get her out of the picture like I said!**" It hissed.

They cowered further into their hiding places, '**A-At least we're making her lose believers…?**'

'**We can try and kidnap her, Master.**'

'**Like we did with the other spirits**.'

The master shook his head, "**No, it would be too sudden. They'll notice too quickly. We must first exclude her from the rest and then take her.**"

'**And then we'll take Pitch Black for ourselves!**'

'**And rule this world**!'

'**And many others!**'

"_**Silianciea**_!" It yelled, shutting up Its minions, "**No, we're not going to take Pitch Black, that man is useless. What we are going to do is something much, much better.**"

The Fearlings watched as their leader rose from Its seat, strolling casually towards the window. The shadows still clung to Its being, like water does when you spend too much time in it. But there were still bits here and there that they could make out; a red sash for a belt, a waistcoat that was at least half the length of Pitch's. Intricate designs at the edges (with shadows of course) and all over the shadowy cloth. The perfect look only fit for their leader.

It stared out the window to the round, white, gleaming shape in the sky, "**Be prepared, young Lunar, there's not much time left**."

* * *

leeghbrita: Light

waueke: weak

Silianciea: silence

* * *

Willow huffed and walked slowly around her father's layer, why did she have to be an idiot and back down so quickly with those Fearlings When they attacked her? If she had ordered her Wisps to keep their mouths shut and not call for help, she wouldn't be in this predicament. But, alas, they had the best intentions at heart, and she couldn't blame them. She so badly wanted to check on her palace, but of course it would be impossible unless her wound was healed.

There was no problem with her doing it from here like she did before, it was easy. But she wanted to check on her palace! It was not fair! Her glow increased in anger.

'_Mistress?_'

She turned around to find a few of her Wisps standing a few feet away from her hesitantly. She sighed and her glow returned to its original intensity before she walked slowly to them, "_Seadh_?" (yes)

'_We're sorry_.'

'_Don't be mad_.'

'_We didn't mean to do anything wrong_.'

'_We'll make it up to you_.'

'_Yes!_'

'_We've been doing most of the work ever since you were hurt_.'

'_Sop Glinn is fine_.'

Willow smiled, "_Chan eil tha mi air bhoil bìoch_." (I'm not mad at you)

The circled her in an attempt to hug her, humming excitedly.

She giggled at their antics and noticed, from the corner of her eye blue tendrils of light and black sand forming into the familiar shape of Wispioni at the side, staring at them. The girl walked towards the horse, which made the equine bow her head in respect, and stare it in the eye.

"Yew kno', a wee bird told meh o' a certain mare saving meh when there was nae hope." She said softly.

The mare shuffled her hooves shyly and glanced at her master.

Willow threw her arms the Wispmare's neck, "_Tapadh leat_, Wispioni." (thank you) she whispered before letting and ruffling her blue and black mane. She turned to the Wisps who were watching with slight envy, she rubbed her hand mischievously, "Now then, 'ave goe tha' perfect thing t'do. Och, aye, am sure _Athair_ shall b'most pleased." A troubling grin broke on her face, which made the beings of light -sans herself- take a step back.

Teenagers, no matter if they are your own leader, usually mean something epic when they grin like that…

…and not in a good way.

* * *

**HAHA! CLIFF- what, noAAAH! *falls off cliff***

***Walks from other side of screen as if nothing happened* yeah, you'd like to do that to me because of an itsy, bitsy cliffhanger, RIGHT?!**

**So, here we are, um...first squabble between Pitch and the Guardians of Childhood. I added a little scene there from Men in Black 3. I watched only the beginning part of that movie and I honestly didn't like it that much because of the horrid amount of curse words, but the scene where the police officers stopped him and were going to take his car away and he was, 'Just because I'm black...', yeah, that scene, it cracked me up!**

**I hope you all are happy for bringing Lady Sylph, or Sylphid, again!**

**I hope I didn't overdo the fluff here, I tried to balance it out with the humor between Pitch and Willow.**

**What do you think? Secret villain! And know, as to not ruin this story, I am going to ask you guys to not try and guess who 'It' is. As for the language, nope *grins like Willow* I'm not revealing what the language is, either, All for the sake of the story, guys :D**

**And, worst of all, y'all are wonderin' what Willow's gonna do, right? Well, that shall stay a mystery until the *Darth Vader voice* END OF TIME! Naw, I'm just kiddin', you'll know in the next chapter :)**

**Now, I have something new I'm sure you'll love. Next to the usual five reviews that make me so happy I'm going to ask for another five reviews. Why? For Willow's picture as a little girl, of course! I'll post it on my profile for everyone to see!**

**So remember, 5+5=10=new chapter+ Picture of Willow as a little girl.**


	11. Chapter 11: Haven't Changed Much

**Yes! I'm alive! And my computer is not! It's slow, tiresome, and I hate it!**

**Ok, enough with my rant, just, forget it.**

**So, I just want to thank the reviewers, as usual, with the...**

***silence***

**CLAP! WHAT DO I PAY YOU FOR?!**

***hired people clap***

**You don't know how thrilled I am when you guys review :)**

**Just asking, though, no one wants to see Willow as a child? The pic's ready to be uploaded, by the way, I just need four more reviews (and no, Hoda, you are not allowed to post more than one review, give the others a chance).**

**I introduce to you...**

* * *

Chapter 11: Haven't Changed Much

* * *

The night was dark and cool, just how he liked it. The stars twinkled down at the watchers below, trying their best to light their way. But although they did their best, their light wasn't as bright as the Moon's, which unfortunately was hidden behind a cloud. It was just one cloud, the rest of the sky was otherwise clear of any. It was as if the Moon was hiding itself.

Pitch raised a brow, "What are you hiding yourself of, I wonder?" he murmured.

A tiny hole appeared in the cloud, a very thin beam went straight towards him; _P-Pitch?_

"Ah…yes, it's me." He blinked many times and hid his face with his arm, "You should be careful where you point those beams, I think I'm blind."

_Sorry_, he whispered, _it was an accident_.

"Never mind," Pitch said, "Why are you hiding?"

_I…I'm busy_.

"Doing…what?"

_Doing someth- Ack!_

Pitch was surprised to hear the Moon let out a pained cry, echoing in his mind, "MiM, what's wrong? What-"

-_No! Keep your distance, F…_- _I can't stay for long, Pitch Black_.

"Why? What's going on?" he asked, starting to worry.

_Be careful, Pitch, and warn the other Guardians, they're not as easy to speak to as you. You must warn them, something terrible might befall them, all spirits_.

"But-"

The ray of moonlight was gone as the cloud closed the hole.

Pitch watched the cloud, feeling something was wrong. It very unlike MiM to act like he did, his voice was very weak, or tired, and he sounded like he was struggling. He tapped his chin in thought as his black cloud floated around the sky idly, letting out tendrils of black sand to fearful children.

That is, until he bumped into an old friend.

And when I say 'bump', I mean he crashed into the short, golden man and fell off the cloud. He should be grateful that his black sand caught him in time.

Sandy shook his head to get rid of the confusion and then looked up at Pitch's tall, intimidating figure. He had his arms crossed and tapped one finger against his forearm continuously, one very thin eyebrow quirked in a way that would've made Sandman giggle like a kid. But right now, he just had that deer-caught-in-headlights look, so he did the first thing that came to mind. He conjured a pair of glasses with his dreamsand.

Pitch's eyebrow went down with the other in a scowl, "No, my eyesight is perfectly _fine_, Sanderson."

Sandy shrugged, '_Just asking_.'

Pitch rolled his eyes, "Well, thank you for being so _considerate_." He said sarcastically.

The golden man shook his head, his friend never changed. He looked up and made the picture of a deep hole and the profile of a thoughtful looking Pitch. The message was clear, '_Deep thought, why?_'

Instinctively, his eyes flitted to the hiding Moon before looking away and concentrating on the few lights of the houses below, "N-Nothing."

Unfortunately for him, Sandy still knew him like the back of his hand, which was probably expected after spending about four centuries together. So, he saw his eyes flit to the sky; a replica of the moon shone over Sandy's head.

Pitch stared at him for a while before sighing and shaking his head, "Everything's fine."

Sandy raised a challenging brow.

He held his hands up in a surrendering gesture, "Alright, fine, you got me." He took in a breath, "I was talking to MiM and-"

'_You__ talked to Manny_?'

Pitch blinked, "What?" he shrugged before frowning, "You thought I was the last person he'd talk to." He said, understanding the look on Sandman's face.

Sandy kicked at his golden cloud, '_Last events, didn't expect it_.'

The tall man huffed, "We made up. Anyways, I was talking to him and said to be careful of something, something terrible."

That completely changed the golden man's mood, he became extremely worried. If MiM said to be careful, he had a point.

A horrible shriek filled the air; both dreamsand spirits turned to the sound to find Fearlings flying towards them. They gave each other sideways glances, an arrow pointed at the Fearlings and then the Moon.

Pitch shrugged, "Could be." He said before conjuring his scythe and letting out a shrill whistle. Immediately, his trusted Onyx came galloping towards them. Sandy brought his whips and changed his cloud to be a flat, sharp edged star before flying towards the Fearlings. The mare didn't even stop, as soon as she was close, Pitch hopped on her and readied his weapon.

Sandy's whips snapped at the shadows, tearing them apart. They screeched so loud, Sandy faltered, which the Fearlings took as an opportunity to attack. Just as they were about to, though, a glittering black whip shot out and wrapped around a few before squeezing so tightly they _popped_.

Sandy glanced at Pitch, who gave him a smug smirk, and conjured the picture of two cats doing the exact same thing.

Pitch laughed, "Maybe so, Sandy, but I just couldn't resist."

The golden man shook his head and shot a few balls of sand over Pitch, it hit the Fearlings and tore them apart. Pitch raised a brow and crossed his arms.

Sandy shrugged, but didn't try to hide his grin, '_Couldn't resist_.'

Pitch rolled his eyes and held his up, as though holding a bow, a black sand arrow formed. Before Sandy could blink, the arrow was flying, _straight towards him_. The dark man was grinning like a malicious villain, "Here's a taste of your own medicine," he let out a cold laugh, "Or should I say, your own Nightmares?"

The arrow flew right over Sandy's head, emitting a scream from behind him, He turned around to see the last of the Fearling tear to bits. He folded his arms and tapped his foot against his cloud.

Pitch was…snickering. After all the high and serious attitude he'd put up, and being a King for…as long as he was alive, the guy was snickering, something that was expected from Jack. He didn't even try to hide it, "Oh god, you should've seen your face…"

Sandy huffed and bounced a ball of dreamsand in his hand, threatening to put him to sleep to a dream of butterflies, thus removing the last of his dignity.

He finally stopped and cleared his throat, "Right, we should pay attention to the task at hand."

On cue, whatever was left of the Fearlings shrieked and charged at them.

They battled for a long time, so long that the sky started to get lighter as the sun rose. As soon as the first rays of the golden orb became visible, the Fearlings shrieked as the light tore them apart and they started to fly away. The two dreamsand spirits watched the black shadows retreat, panting.

Pitch glanced at Sandy, "Don't…forget…to tell the rest…alright?"

Sandy nodded and let out a breath.

The tall man rose, his back popping, and winced while rubbing his shoulder, "That's going to be a pain."

Sandy patted at his golden clothes to get rid of the shadows.

Pitch scuffed his hands together, "Well, I should-" his eyes narrowed at something on the ground far away. Suddenly, his eyes widened, "Oh no!" and he darted before Sandy could ask what he meant.

* * *

The Nightmare, which wasn't Onyx, ran at her highest speed, but it still wasn't fast enough for Pitch. He knew why those Fearlings came, at least, he had an inkling (well, it felt like he was over-reacting like some sort of over-protective parent!), it was Willow. They were probably watching him all those times and saw him take her to heal, so they were expecting her to show up with him. If he didn't hurry, they might come to his lair and find her!

As soon as the entrance of his lair came to view, he snapped his fingers and the horse was gone. He fell through the air with black sand trailing after him, until he went through the hole, instantly turning to a shadow. One of the advantages of being half-shadow was the ability to tap into them and be able to see through them, which was exactly what he was doing.

A small part of him condemned him for acting so worried, so what if she was hurt? It wasn't his fault! Besides, he was a solo spirit, nothing should rely on him.

He shook his head, no, stop it. Willow was the only -_well, the first in a long time_- to treat him civilized, even if it was because of some bizarre claim that he was once her father.

He searched for any light, hoping it would lead to her. His eyes zoomed to one shadow, where he saw the girl standing at a wall and holding something to it, dragging it around with a very satisfied grin. She wasn't wearing her jacket and had rolled up her black sleeves.

He flew through the shadow and landed a few meters away from her, disguising himself as a shadow yet again. But despite the quiet noise he made, she hadn't even looked towards him, and she'd usually figure out he was there.

Well, at least she was fine; he smirked, he was the Guardian (maybe) of Courage and Fear, shouldn't he play his part?

He stalked towards her, being careful not to make a sound, not even looking at what she was doing with the wall. Whatever she was doing she seemed pretty absorbed, she didn't even notice him until he made his presence known.

"Boo-Oh my…_Obh obh_!" (y'all remember what that means, right?)

Willow flinched and froze, she was caught, red handed! She glanced at her hand, well, paint handed, but still the same! She didn't dare turn around, her father had quite a temper, she remembered, and was stupid to sometimes bring it out as a mortal.

It seems being immortal didn't change that.

Wait, did he just say something again in Gaelic? Mental fist pump, two points for Team Willow!

Pitch staggered towards the wall, "Oh god, Willow….wh-what…what is all this…?"

"A…" her voice died in her throat, "Um…well, 'tis a…-_obh obh, am gauin' t'be in a heap o'truble_- …a picture?"

Picture didn't even cover it, her artwork spanned across most of the wall, at about the height of five of her on top of each other and ten-twenty Norths next to one another. The painting itself was not really about anything; deep green of a forest and dotted colors of nature, so beautiful, it was as if Mother Nature had grown the picture right there on the wall. In the picture, two figures that were colored black and blue ran through the greenery on…horses. A small figure in brown with a golden head trailed after them.

Pitch smiled to himself, well, it was hard not to smile when seeing something like this. The only word that could describe this was, "Cute."

Willow blushed and hide under her tresses, "Jus' t'remind yew when yewr feelin' doon moothed."

He chuckled, and then something felt like he was hit with something,

_A wall, outside of a palace, covered in paint as though someone threw it_. _A little girl stared shyly at him, " 'tis a picture…fer yer birthday."_

He blinked and glanced at Willow, he murmured absently, "You haven't changed much."

Willow looked up, "_B' àill leat?_"

He raised a brow, "Excuse me?"

She rolled her eyes, "I said 'Pardon' 'cause I dinna catch whit yew said undar yer breath."

Pitch quickly shook his head, "It was nothing," he glanced at her skeptical expression, "Plans, for my job."

She nodded, "Ohh…"

"Now, what were you saying?"

Instantly, her vague expression turned to joy, she pointed at the blue figure, "If yew touch this wee an an' think o'ma forest, it'll take yew there in a flash."

Pitch nodded and got up, "I'm going to rest."

Willow grinned evilly, "Yewr sure yew want t'dew that with me here?"

He stopped walking and glanced at her, "Something tells me you'll do something stupid without second thoughts."

"Well," she cocked her head towards the tins of paint, "There's still some paint left an' I cannae jus' throw it away," her grin intensified, "I need t'put it into good use." She cocked her head, "Yew eva' thoucht o' switchin from black?"

Pitch inwardly groaned and tried to keep down the urges to rest in some dark corner, he turned around, "Alright then, what do you want to do?"

Her wicked grin turned to one a child would wear when receiving a candy, she snapped her fingers and a Looking Hole Wisp appeared, she grabbed her father's hand and coat before hopping through. As soon as they landed in her forest, Willow flew through another. They appeared in the sky, above the clouds, with the sun shining upon them.

Pitch glanced under him and suddenly realized that the only thing keeping from falling though the clouds and plummeting towards the ground was Willow holding him tightly with both hands.

"Och…Da, yer pure dead heavy!" she gasped.

He rolled his eyes, "Wasn't this your brilliant idea, Missy? What are we going to do now, hang around in this heat?"

"Heat?" she laughed, "Yew'll be saying something _completely different_ when you find out where we ar." She tried to free one hand from holding her father.

"Careful! You'll drop me." He warned.

"Oooh, is Big Bad Boogeyman afwaid o'fawwing?" she mocked and finally got one hand back. She held it to her mouth and whistled a soft tune; instantly, a blue and black figure came galloping towards them. Willow bowed her head slightly, "_Tapadh leat_, Wispioni," she gestured with her head to the spirit hanging to her, "_tha cobhair a dhìth oirre_." (he needs some help)

The mare nodded and flew under Pitch, who landed on her, relieved to not be hanging.

Willow laughed at the sudden wave of relief, "Och, yew poor thing, even tha' Nightmare King has fears."

He almost did a face palm and then gave her a flat look, "So you're saying that you're not afraid of falling more than one thousand feet to the ground?"

"Well, considering I can fly," she did a loop-the-loop, just to bug him, "Nae."

Pitch peered at her, "Still, if you couldn't fly, the fear is as clear as moonlight."

The girl rolled her eyes but smiled and looked forward. They flew over a particularly large cloud that looked like a mountain; Willow laughed as she pretended to run on it, scooping handful and letting it go to fly in the wind. Pitch enjoyed the place, quiet, spacious, light, and although it was a little humid and the sun was shining a bit too many rays in his opinion, it was perfect.

White clouded his vision and he wiped at his face angrily, a sense of déjà vu returned to him of Jack and snowballs. He looked up and saw Willow flying backwards, laughing like she pulled the funniest joke ever. Pitch rolled his eyes, "Very mature, _Willowy Dear_." He called as he sent some sand behind him, returning in his hands a handful of the clouds.

She circled him, "Och, yew shuld've seen yer face! Yew were all-" she did an imitation of relaxation "-happy an' enjoying tha' ride an' then…Bam!" she drove her fist in her palm, she started to snicker, "Too bad- Oof!"

Pitch threw his head back and laughed, watching Willow shake her head to clear herself from the white fluff, "Who has the last laugh now?"

She gathered an armload in her arms and blew it towards him, it settled on his hair, and shoulders, covered his face and his clothes. Willow covered her mouth but didn't try to stomach her guffaws and ended up snorting and chortling, "Yew look like a sairy excuse fer a snowman."

He shook his head, getting rid of the last bits of clouds, he looked around and then raised his eyebrow at her, "Willow, don't tell me you just led me here for no reason."

"Oh!" She took a handful of Wispioni's mane that turned to reins and pulled the horse towards their destination.

For a moment he expected her to just go back to the ground, but when he saw the clouds getting smaller than larger, it seemed otherwise. Willow glanced every few seconds giddily, half running, half flying over the clouds. Pitch looked past Wispioni's head to see the strangest phenomenon. In an area above the clouds, it seemed as though there were…pixies? Many shiny things glinting in the air.

Willow noticed his studying expression, "I kno', 'tis weird, but 'tis t'throw off unwanted trespassers. If yew gauw in a bit farther yew'll see tha' treasure behind tha' magic."

They flew a bit more, getting closer towards the strange thing, and it was then he started to see shapes. First it was vague, but as they got closer the shapes took form and started to make a whole picture.

"Oh my word…" he breathed and watched where was once a seemingly plain sky a magnificent castle.

Willow smiled, "Built it myself, actually. Made o' pure licht, diamonds, crystals, and glass." She shrugged, "Well, ma' chamber 'ave moonstone walls so I can dress an' rest in peace, but other than that, 'tis whole place is made o' clear, refracting crystals."

They landed on a jutting platform, Wispioni transforming into black sand and blue light before reassembling somewhere else. Willow nodded to her and the mare flew off.

Pitch watched the whole place in disbelief; how on earth…and all this time he mistook the little one's high attitude for being a bit of a show-off, but now, her attitude seemed past humble.

And speaking of said spirit, he turned around and found her dressed in a shoulder baring dress with billowing, semi translucent sleeves that were open till her shoulders. Her skirt was also of the same semi translucent cloth that was open from the front, but because of the amount of creases in her dress that spread out if she twirled, it was hidden perfectly. Under her dress was a dark blue, high collared shirt with sleeves and a pair of similar matching pants, though not as formfitting. Her hair was void of her ribbons and instead it looked like someone sprinkled small pieces of blue diamonds on her hair. To top it off, her dress had a trail and she held a very thin staff in her hands.

With a sweep of her hand, blue lights from nowhere started to light up the place.

She bowed, "Welcome t'_Sop Glinn_."

There was a faint moment of silence, which was broken by Pitch.

He said quietly, "You dressed up just for that little entry, didn't you?"

Willow gave him a shocked look, "Nae! If am a mistress, shuldn't I dress tha part?" she pulled at his hand, "Now, follow me! We've tha' whole place t'tour."

"Lead away," he did an exaggerated bow, "M'lady."

She folded her arms and pouted, "Am serious!"

He chuckled.

* * *

**I hope this was nice, I feel like it was the worst I've done (I know, I'm too optimistic for my own good :P).**

**The questions are rising, I see. What's wrong with Manny? Why does he sound weak? What's with the cloud? Why are the Hired People carrying the author, about to throw him/her down the waterfall?**

**Don't worry, all shall be revealed in time.**

**Yeah, I don't have much to explain, except that the reason Pitch couldn't see Sop Glinn from far away was because of reflection. Willow specifically made her palace from crystals and diamonds not only because they're pretty, but from far away, with the light reflecting off it and acting as mirrors to the surroundings, it gives the illusion of being invisible. Basically, it mirrors the clouds and such, hiding it from view.**

**Oh, I'm going to be a bit busy with other stories, on other writing sites.**

**Last thing, don't forget the usual five and four reviews for Willow's picture as a child!**


	12. Chapter 12: Of Guardians and B-day Kid

**It's been a long while, hasn't it? Or maybe it's like that in my mind, whatever. Anyways, thank god I've posted this, we're slowly getting to the action! Yay!**

**Oh, and I want to thank all of you reviewers for reviewing.**

**And I want to thank jasmine for giving me an extra review for posting Willow's pic, only three left, guys! Wahoo!**

**So, I would've liked to use my 'Hired Clappers' but as I explained to Twix, they hijacked a limo and drove a few houses and then a nuclear plant. The results weren't pretty, while they walked away unscathed, they think that they're all chickens and were placed temporarily in an asylum until the recover. I'll just use my hands *claps a few times***

***Faints from exhaustion***

***Flies back up* Anywho! Don't mind me! Let's get on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 12: Of Guardians and b-day Kid

* * *

Tooth rubbed at her arms and bit her lip as her wings beat behind her, "North, you're sure?"

He nodded, "Spirits are _poofing_ off radar, no signs."

"Tinker Bell?"

"Gone."

"Peter Pan?"

"Gone."

"Nix? Rusalka? Morgan?"

North shook his head, "I cannot find them, I have sent yetis and they come back, bare hands."

"You mean 'empty handed'?" she said.

North chuckled softly, "Vhat I say."

Tooth chuckled before looking at the list, in it had spirits of many kinds, of many jobs. Since the list was made by North a long time ago, it was divided into two, 'Enemies' and 'Allies', flipping the parchment revealed the 'Neutral'. Pitch was definitely the first on the 'Enemies' list, over him was the name of their former enemy, crossed out and written in Russian 'dead'.

Kozmotis Pitchiner, the once greatest general of the stars and father of Mother Nature, reduced to the fear-instilling spirit at the hands of the Fearlings. Not only did he feast on fear, but also the death of children all over the galaxies and their transformation into Fearlings. Luckily, with the help of Manny, Katherine, and Nightlight, they had wiped him out of existence.

So when they returned to Earth after their great battle to start their work with the kids and met this Pitch Black, he reminded them so much of their fallen enemy and automatically took him as one of the evil beings.

Was it just her, or did it seem that once their oldest member, Sandy, actually knew the man?

Tooth shook her head and resumed with the list; a whole batch of spirits were circled to mark as 'missing'. Some she knew, some she heard of, and some…wait a minute, Andarta is a real spirit?

Bunny appeared from his hole, "I got the signal, North. North?" he looked around, "Where'd the bloke go?"

"Bunny?" Tooth showed him the list, "You might want to look at this."

His eyes scanned over the paper, "Jack O'Lantern…Leprechaun…Groundhog…" he looked up, "What's wrong if Groundhog goes missing?"

Tooth scowled, "Just keep looking."

"Some pixies…May Queen? Who in their right mind would kidnap a _seasonal_?" suddenly, he scowled darkly, "There's one person who would."

"Who?" Tooth asked, but she already knew whom he would say.

"It's Pitch." He said, "He's probably startin' another war, stupid drongo."

She cocked her head to the side worriedly, "You're sure? There are other dark spirits out there."

"Like who?"

"Umm…" she thought for a moment, "The Fearlings? Kozmotis could be gone, but they could be out there, wreaking havoc by themselves."

"Or with a new leader."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed.

"Which is Pitch."

Tooth deadpanned, "You're not really listening, are you?"

"Oh, come on, Tooth!" he groaned as he walked idly with the paper, he pointed to one of the circled spirits, "One of them is a Guardian! He's probably trying to get people to stop believin' in them again."

"Another Guardian?" Tooth asked, "We're only five, Bunny."

"No, I mean the Guardians in general, not necessarily the Guardians of Childhood." He pointed to the list, "See? Andarta, the Guardian of Bravery. The Scott one, fiery hair, has a horse, likes bows."

"That must be a very girly spirit." Tooth said idly, imagining a girl riding a horse _drenched_ in bows.

Bunny face palmed, "She's far from girly, Tooth. Bows and _arrows_."

"Oh!" she snapped her fingers, "You mean that spirit that looks similar to that movie humans are crazy about. Brave, was it?"

"Yep, that one. She's missing." He scowled, "And if a Guardian goes missing, then there's big trouble."

Tooth tapped her fingers on her chin, "Maybe I should go check on Willow...or at least warn her."

Bunny nodded as the tooth fairy flew to the window, heading to the light spirit, "Yeah, you do that."

* * *

Willow snapped her fingers, immediately, each of her portals opened on the seven, smooth 'mirrors' to reveal places in each country with various blue orbs making trails for humans to follow. She turned around, "Whit dew yew think, Pitch?"

He peered at one, "Those work, yes?"

She hesitated, "Um…aye, I guess…" she watched him extend his hand in and panicked; what if the shadows on him tinted those portals? Her castle would be ruined! "Nae!" she cried and shot towards him, "_Na cuir làmh air!_" she pulled him from his robes, they flew backwards and landed in a heap. (don't touch it)

Pitch groaned and sat up, he felt like he snapped his back, didn't she think of using carpets? He looked up at where she had flown and raised a brow at her odd behavior. At the moment, Willow was studying every detail of the portal he touched before standing up and sticking her hand in multiple times, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Willow turned around and gave him a nervous smile.

He pulled at the front of his robe, "Care to explain?"

"Um…" she bit her lip and stared at her hands, "_Truagh_?" she said with a shrug. (sorry?)

Pitch sighed and shook his head.

"Wayt, cum here fer a minute." She said as she pulled him towards the portal. She stuck his hand in several times and pulled it out, then stuck her own in before sticking her head for a few minutes.

Pitch was giving her a scowl when she pulled her head out.

"Tha shadows…mess up ma…portals, a bit." She explained. Before her father can say anything else, a Wisp came and hummed something. Willow's eyes widened and she hummed something back, making the Wisp fly back to wherever it came from. She grabbed Pitch's hand and started to fly towards a tower.

"What?" was all he managed to squeak, "Couldn't you at least have given a warning?"

"Sairy," she huffed, "But there's a bodie coming!"

"Who?"

"I dinna kin." She said, "But 'tis probably Tooth."

Pitch rolled his eyes, "Figures, the Guardians probably found out about the missing spirits."

She glanced at him, "Missing sperits?"

He looked up, "You didn't notice? Spirits are disappearing here and there, even the Guardian of Bravery -_what_ _was it, Andista? Annada_?- has gone missing!"

"Andarta!" Willow yelped, accidentally letting go of her father, "Oh, nae Merida!"

"Willow!"

She looked down, Pitch caught himself at the last minute on a cloud of black sand before flying upwards to her, "You really should pay attention, did you know that in your head there's something called a _brain_?"

She scowled, "Nae funny, Pitch." She flew towards the tower.

The room in the tower was shaded by curtains covering the windows, flying lazily as winds blew at them. Willow stuck her head out of the window and whistled a small tune, a few moment later brought her trusty Wispmare.

"_Tilg sgàil, mas e do thoil e_." (cast a shadow, please) she said softly; the mare neighed before transforming to a semi circled wall, casting a shadow on the ground, dark enough for travel.

"_Móran taing_, Wispi." (thank you). She gestured to the shadow, "Aff yew gauw, Da."

"It's, for the hundredth time, Pitch." He glanced at it, "So…you're basically throwing me out?"

She nodded, "Pretty much." She waved her hands, "Now, shoo aff, Tooth'll come an' I dinna want t'spend ma time explaining our long story…if yew survive hyr swords."

He adopted a pained expression, "Unable to take a risk for someone who rescued you a few days ago?"

"Aye, am nae a pure generous type," she shrugged, "A side effect o' being an onl' chylde."

Pitch raised a brow but said nothing; he walked into the shadow and fazed through.

Willow sighed a sigh of relief and snapped her fingers, Wispioni returned to her normal form. Willow pointed on the ground, "_Fan a-bhos_." (stay here) she said before flying out the window to the gates of her home.

She arrived just in time as the familiar, colorful form of Tooth arrived. Many fairies twittered about her, flitting off before returning shortly, but Tooth looked extremely worried. As soon as she saw Willow, A relieved expression replaced her worry and almost crushed her in a hug.

"Oh, thank god, you're safe! I almost thought you went missing after not seeing you for a while!" she gushed out.

Willow shrugged, "Whit can I sae? A'bodie kno' bettyre than t'kidnap me."

Tooth rubbed her arm, "Yeah, about that, there are some spirits that have disappeared off the face of the Earth."

Willow's eyes widened slightly, "Really?"

"Yes," she said, sounding a bit confused "You didn't know?"

"Well, sum friend o'mine mentioned something alang those lines, but I dismissed it." She paused, "Who's missing?"

"Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, some water sprites, Andarta, and a few others."

Willow pulled at her hair absently, " 'tis serious, most o' tha' anes yew named oot ar Guardians."

"Wait…you mean Peter, Bell…"

Willow nodded, "Aye, I figured yew wuld kno', given that yer a Guardian. Ever thoucht o' socializing more?"

Tooth stared at her, "Oh…MiM has been choosing Guardians for so much time…and we thought having Jack Frost was the thing of the century."

"Och, 'tis been gauwin' on fer ages, in fact, tha' most recent ane's Lowee…" her face turned dreamy at the mention of the Halloween spirit. She noticed Tooth's raised brow and cleared her throat, "He's tha Guardian o' Thrill…n-nae ma' care, or anything, Anda told me when it happened, twa decades 'fore Jack Frost's carination, I reckon."

"Willow…how do you know of all this? I mean, _we_ are Guardians and we barely know…"

Willow sighed and flew to her gate before gesturing Tooth to follow. They flew through many hallways and ramps, in and out of windows, until they reached a roofless room. Willow stood in front of the doors with a guilty expression, she said without making eye contact, "I added thys room aftir yew healped me bueld _Sop Glinn_."

The walls were clear glass with pictures embedded inside the glass made of tiny bubbled in the glass, paint, and then precious stones that were all in the shades of blue associated with Willow. The pictures depicted scenes where the Wisps helped the humans in various forms, Willow was usually hidden somewhere, away from the human eyes. Under the glass floor was clear water with glowing small, little things that resembled stardust and idly gems of blue and white floated on the surface, gently flowing with the help of an invisible wind.

Willow sighed and took Tooth's hand, urging her to fly with her. They flew upwards for a few meters until Willow stopped, "Luk doun."

Tooth did as her friend told her to; the sight was breathtaking with the sunlight softly playing through the glass and glinting off the stones.

" Fer seven centuries, since tha' Graet War. 'tis kept a secret so Pitch wuldnae try t'harm me." She related sadly.

Something caught her eye, the curves here and there on the floor under the water…strangely reminding her of words. Tooth gasped with wide eyes, those weren't any words, oh, no, those were words burned into her memory, words she lived by…

_I, _

_Guardian of Guidance, _

_Will watch over the people of Earth,_

_Guide them safely from the ways of harm,_

_Keep happy their hearts, _

_Brave their souls, _

_And rosy their cheeks._

_I will guard with my life _

_Their hopes and dreams,_

_For they are all that I have, _

_All that I am,_

_And all that I will ever be_.

* * *

Wispioni nudged the figure in the center of the Main Room, but the figure didn't budge. Black, inky tendrils splayed around the figure, not stirring from their places. Large, eclipsed eyes watched the mirrors, each conveying people that should've been closest to her, but were no more. Her Wisps flew about the former believers, calling, _begging_ for them to see again.

She lost half of her believers since the Fearlings' first attack, and while it won't affect her like it had to the Guardians of Childhood, it still hurt to know so many people were just _leaving_ her. She knew for sure that this wasn't Pitch's doing, she took his word that he never had an influence and never controlled the Fearlings, plus he worked more with his sand than shadows. She didn't know of any other spirits that was in control the Fearlings, unless…

Unless the Fearlings were:

1. Just mindlessly flying around, hurting spirits.

2. Were under the control of a leader from them.

Naturally, she chose the first option and contented herself with the thought that the Guardians of Childhood would sort it out since they were the last hope. But a small part of her nagged that the second option was just as likely.

Willow finally broke from her trance and glanced at Wispioni, she looked back at the group of children in front of her in the mirror with a sigh. At least the brown haired boy was still believing, judging by the blue-ish glow around him.

"_Meòraich thu 's còir do innis mi a'__Dìdionnair_?" (you think I should tell the Guardians) she said as she scratched under the Wispmare's chin, keeping her eyes on the portals.

The mare did the imitation of a nod.

She sighed, "_Chan urrainn mise_…_ma…ma innis mi iad, ciùrr iad m'athair, is dèanta esan chan droch-bheart…tha àm_."

(I don't know…if…if I tell them, they might hurt my father, and he's done no evil…this time)

'True,' it huffed softly, 'but not telling them is just as dangerous, more spirits are affected each day.'

Willow ran her hand through her hair and stood up, she walked idly and touch one portal, the one for Europe, "_Cleachdta mùirn mi tha mór-thìr, bha as creidmheach…a-nis…seo lugha_."

(I used to love this continent, it used to have the most believers…now…now it's the least)

'It still is your favorite continent, if it is for one person at least.' The mare said and touched the mirror. The scene changed to a little girl, combing the hair of her doll (which strangely looked like Willow).

Willow smiled, remembering the horse riding, "Aye, 'tis still is."

Wispioni nudged her by the head, 'Go on, child, it's her birthday in a few days, after all. What better way to surprise her than a present from you?'

At that, the horse's master perked up, "Och, yew've reminded mi! I need t'maek plans with sum spirits!" she snapped her fingers, Wisps came and surrounded her before flying off again. Instead of her regal dress, she was wearing black jeans and mini, blue skirt coupled with her black shirt and blue blazer from before. Her hair had been folded to sit just shy of her hips and braided with a blue ribbon. She ran into the mirror in a flash of light and was gone.

She appeared outside of the MacAra house, above her was Mysie's window. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she flew to the window and peered inside; Mysie was sitting with a redheaded child, both were dressing their dolls and talking with each other. Willow grinned and knocked on the window. The girls looked up, Mysie grinned in joy and scrambled to the window, "Willow!"

The girl in question smiled, "_Hallo_, Mysie, hauw yew've been?"

"Graet! Ma birthday's ina cuple days, I'll be turnin' ten!" she said enthusiastically.

Willow ruffled her hair and flew into the room gracefully.

The redheaded girl was staring in awe at the fae in front of her, "Ye…yer Will…Willowiana!"

Willow giggled and did an elaborated bow, "_Dé an sunnd a tha ort, A' Mh_."

Her face quirked in confusion, Mysie then interjected, "Och, it's jus' Gaelic, Ali, whit yew said yer aunt speaks."

Understanding dawn on the girl, she held out her hand, "I'm Alison."

Willow finally placed her feet on the ground and took the girls hand in her own, shaking it daintily, " 'tis a pleasure t'meet yew."

"Show 'er yer lang hair, Willow! Please! Please!" Mysie begged as she jumped up and down.

The spirit smiled, "Fyn, but please keep hayrstylin' t'aminimum."

Alison's eyes grew wide, "Hairstyling?!"

"Aye," Willow said as she undid the knot at the end, "Whit, yew thoucht I's nae let yew tooch't aftir shauwin't t'yew?"

Alison squealed and jumped up and down, "Och!" her jaw dropped as soon as Willow's hair fell down to her ankles, barely brushing the floor. She casually ran her hands through it to get rid of the knots and shook her head.

Mysie entered the room with a familiar bag brimming with hair accessories, "C'mon, Ali, dinna just stand there an' gimme a hand!" she turned to the Will o' the Wisps and addressed her like a child, "An' ye, coorie up an' get on yer hurdies."

Willow chuckled and shook her head before sitting at the small stool.

It was after many hours of playing with the long, wavy tresses into a variety of styles and Willow racking her memory of being a human to make hairstyles for the girls in front of her Alison's parents came and picked her up. While the two girls gushed out their time with Willowiana, the girl in question hid at the stairs, watching the children and the adult clearly humoring them. She sighed and went back to Mysie's room.

Willow had to admit, her life was falling apart. What, now? Mysie's friends? Mysie herself? Would they too let go of the belief in their Guardians? She hoped not, Mysie was the little sister she never had, losing her would lose a big chunk of her life.

She trailed her fingers on the ballerina wind up that sat on the small and simple dresser. Good MacAras, not spending their money on one shot. She started to wind it up, completely forgetting the people downstairs and watched the ballerina dance to the sound of a tinkling tune that she unconsciously hummed with.

Something passed from the corner of her eye and she turned around, letting out a little gasp. She looked around the room and held her breath, it was at that moment the light started to flicker. Her eyes glowed in the momentary darkness in the color of blue as she studied the light bulb.

"…Pitch?" she whispered, when she got no response, she scowled, " 'tis poppycock, quyt 't."

The light went it, little sparks falling out of it and landing around the room. Willow's hand flew to her pocket and realized that she didn't have her dagger, which was stupid in her opinion, but that was her punishment for harboring safety after nearly dying a week ago. She cursed in Gaelic and with a flick of wrist had her hand glowing in the dark room.

White, sickly eyes started to appear in the darkest places of the room and whispers started to fill the air.

'**. . .not real. . .**'

'**. . .traitor. . .**'

'**. . .no one believes in you. . .**'

'**. . .abandoned. . .**'

She moaned and held her head, "Stop! Gae awae from me!" she hissed.

The shadows started to take form, cackling at her kneeling form before they started to truly attack.

Willow looked up just in time to receive a blow to the head. She flew and landed on the bed, her head pounded with the aftereffects of the Fearlings' attack. She rubbed the side of her forehead and huffed, suddenly, her situation came crashing down on her and she gasped; she had to get out of here before they attacked Mysie. Willow hummed and a few Wisps appeared, she stationed them in the darkest corners of the room to fend off any extra Fearlings before standing on the windowsill and taunted the shadows, "Oi! Yew want a piece o' me, shadow puppets?"

They all hit her in one collective group so that if one were standing and watching from the side of the house, they would see a large mass fly from the window with a glowing blue figure at its end.

* * *

_Back in the MacAra household:_

Mysie ran to her room in excitement, but her shoulders drooped to see her room void of her friend, except for a few Wisps. She tried flipping the switch and found it busted.

"Oi!" she called, "Janet, the licht's busted again!"

Her sister appeared from her room, "Whit did ye do t'it this time, Mysie?"

"Nae me! Probably the fuse box was cheap."

Janet rolled her eyes.

* * *

She shook her head and looked at her advancing foes, she smirked and used one of Jack's lines:

"Catch me if yew can!" she called over her shoulder as she flew upwards. The Fearlings blindly followed her. She went upwards, upwards, until she was in the clouds and soon above them. She decided that if she wanted to eradicate them, she needed to be in a lit place, and what better place than directly under the starry night?

She stood casually in the air and checked her nails, briefly the picture of a normal teenager (how normal can a teenager be, flying in the air? XD) and expected to hear cries of pain, but all she got was a scrape to her face from a shadow dart. She glanced, alarmed, where the Moon should be, in its place was the largest and darkest cloud she'd ever seen in eight hundred centuries.

Willow looked at the shadows coming closer towards her and took a deep breath before flashing blue and transforming to her brighter form.

* * *

Tooth ran a hand through her feathered head, a faint part of her expected to feel soft strands of hair and feathers, but she pushed it down. How on earth did Willow turn out to be a Guardian? I mean, she was glad she can completely open up now to her, but still! How come she didn't tell her? Tooth was her closest friend! They were practically sisters!

Tooth sighed and got up from her bed, she can wonder over those thoughts later, right now she had more pressing matters to attend to. Ceasing her wings and standing delicately on her feet, clasping her hands in front of her chest, she closed her eyes and tried to remember the words of the spell.

It was rather easy to undo a spell, especially one done by the Monkey King, all she had to do was reverse its wording to suit her wish.

"_I trap you, Mighty Tooth Queen, into the form of a hummingbird._

_I bind your swords to your wings_

_Your feathers to your head_

_And the small size to your body._

_Nothing can free you from your curse except…_"

Well, never mind the last part, she'll get it when she figures out the reverse.

She took a deep breath and said in Hindu:

"_I free me, Last and Only Sister of Flight, from the form of the hummingbird._

_I free my swords from my wings, restore their feathers_

_My feathers from my head, restore my hair_

_And restore my size to its original form._

_Nothing can free me from this curse except…me_."

She expected pain, like she did the first time, or maybe discomfort. Or maybe it happened without her knowing; she bunched her fists and peeked in the mirror.

Nothing had changed, she was still small, insect winged, more bird than human Tooth.

No one from her daughters blamed her when she stayed in her room for two days

* * *

A spike of fear called him in one part of the globe, in no time his sand was taking him there as fast as sand slides over steep, smooth glass. The lights of many cities and towns passed under him, but he paid them no heed, just flying to the source of fear, doing his job, no big deal.

He stood on his sand cloud out of the window and peered in the room; it was simple, with light purple walls and soft colored furniture, hinting this was a girl's room. He looked for the bed and frown, a Nightfilly was galloping happily over the child's blonde head, trotting like some magic unicorn (no, not a corn on a unicycle).

Shifting through a shadow, he appeared at the bed, towering over the girl. "Normally, I'd say 'I thought I heard the clippty clop of a unicorn', but this time…"

The filly stopped skipping and peered at its master shyly.

Pitch extended his hand and let the filly slowly climb onto it, "You know better than to instill too much fear in an already cured child," he scolded softly.

It neighed and trotted up his arm to nuzzle in his neck.

He chuckled, "Oh, you're not getting off the hook that easily." He removed it from his neck and carried it in his arms, like a cat.

Suddenly, there was commotion outside; he didn't even turn around when something flew in through the window and crashed into the wall. It got up, but with a yelp fell again, making other things fall. He glanced at the child and was grateful she didn't stir.

"You should really pay attention to where you're going, Willow." He drawled as he watched her from the side of his vision, his fingers idly went through the mane of the Nightfilly.

Said girl got up and shook her head, "Aye, I kno', _Maighstir Bhuil_." (mister obvious) "Ma hayr's inma face again."

"Use a barrette to keep it of your face," he glanced at the child again and turned around to face her, "and keep your voice down. You'll spoil the surprise."

Willow blew her hair out of her face and walked up to him, but before she could say anything, Pitch took one look at her and groaned.

"Oh, Willow, I leave you for _two_ days and you get into a scuffle!" he scolded.

A yellowed bruise sat at the side of her forehead and a scrape on her right cheekbone, her whole appearance just screamed tired.

Willow shrugged, "Wasnae my idea, I's with Mysie an' then…" she bit her tongue, "an' then her brathirs came with a random fichtin' contest…an' I's tha' punchin' bag."

Pitch touched the bruise at the side of her head and sighed, "Well, then," he side stepped, "You know what to do."

She crept to the bed and shook the girl's shoulder, "Mysie, gae up, now, ryse an'shyne."

Pitch snickered in the corner, "Rise and shine?"

She shot him a glare and flicked her wrist, a small ball of light hit him in the head.

"Up nauw, Mysie, 'ave goe yew a surprise…" she sing songed.

Mysie turned and said blearily, "I dinna want to go to school…isnae Saturday…?"

Willow giggled, "Nae, nauw up!"

The child sat up, half-awake, and rubbed her eyes, "W-Willow…? What ar ye doing here? It's nicht…"

"I kno', but gae up, coorie up nauw."

Mysie dragged herself out of bed, now fully awake, "What ar we gonna do?"

Willow dragged her father out of the shadow he was hiding in, "Nauw, yew remember him, aye?"

Mysie looked up at the tall man, "…um…Mr. Cunning Min…?"

Pitch sighed, irritated, and deadpanned at no one, "No, I'm not a wizard, I'm the Boogyeman."

She blinked.

"Nightmare King?"

Another blink.

He waved his hand, "You know, just-"

"Oooch!" she said and pointed to the little filly in his arms, "Yer Horse Rider, the Sandman's friend!"

It was the spirits' turn to blink.

Mysie suddenly interpreted what she said and blushed, "I…I dinna kin where that came from."

Pitch shook his head and set the filly on the ground, it grew larger till it became the same size as a pony, "Come on."

The girl stared at it and then at Pitch, "It wonnae _eat_ me, will it?"

He threw his head back and laughed, "Eat you? Oh no, no, it doesn't eat humans, it eats fear and turns it to courage…or the other way round with naughty children. Now," he patted the filly's back, "Hop on."

The child climbed on the horse; Willow snapped her fingers, an armful of blue, glowing orbs appeared. "Coorie, up, please, we dinnave much tyme."

"Where are your Wisps?" Pitch asked.

She glanced at her arms, "Och…um, they're busy."

He raised a brow, her attitude was getting weirder every time they met. However, he didn't press on anymore, perhaps he'll have a word with her later.

"Right," he cleared his throat, "Anyways, we should get going. As you said, we don't have much time."

Willow nodded and took off, leaving a trail with her glowing orbs.

They flew through the night air, with the stars twinkling in a way that made them look like they were scared, but no one paid attention. They passed the great Atlantic ocean and small islands until Willow started to lower from above the clouds towards the ground. All the while, Mysie was enthralled with being so high in the air, and the clouds that swirled into many shapes under her.

A familiar figure appeared, one with white hair and blue eyes.

"Hey, William."

Willow hit him upside the head, "Cut it oot, Jackson, we've goe a birthdae lass here an' we need t'show her tha' surprise before her mum realizes she's missing."

" 'kay, _Mom_," he rolled his eyes, "You don't have to scold me." He turned to the girl on the horse, briefly nodding at Pitch, "Hey, Pitchy, 'sup?"

He nodded, "Likewise."

Jack snickered behind his hand, "Soo…you said 'sup'? Doesn't suit you, Horse Man."

Pitch scowled, "We can finish our…unfinished business later, Frost Brat. Now," he ignored Jack's muttered insults, "We've got more important matters at hand."

"Right," he replaced his frown with a grin, "Well, hello, lil' lady."

Mysie's eyes widened, "Och! Yer Jack Frost! 'Ave seen ye in Scotland a time or twa, spreadin' snow an' such!"

He nodded, "That's me, Prince of Frost, King of Snow Days, and Guardian of Fun!" he said as he gestured to himself. He studied her for a moment, "And…you must be…Mary."

She shook her head.

"Mara?"

Her grin widened as she shook her head again.

"Maile? No, Mavie, or Mell…Wait!" he snapped his fingers, "You're Olivia!"

She shook her head, Pitch rolled his eyes and muttered, "You _don't_ know the name of whom you're surprising…?" before clearing his throat, "Since your distinguishing skill is still amateur, her name is Maragret."

"Actually, I prefer Mysie." She said shyly.

"Really?" Jack scratched the side of his head with the crook of his staff, "You look like an Olivia."

"_BOYS!_" The two spirits turned to the glowing figure a couple of meters away. "Yewr jus' standin' there, blabberin' 'boot whit who luks like whit an' we've goe a schedule t'keep up with!"

They followed the girl to another house and flew through the window. Willow glanced at the bed and then froze…

"Where's tha' child…?"

The door opened to reveal a boy with brown hair, pj's, and a toothbrush sticking out of the side of his mouth, a bit of toothpaste dribbled across his chin. The toothbrush dropped from his gaping jaw and he scrambled for a flashlight, instantly pointing it at the quartet, who covered their eyes.

"Jack Frost!" he said, running up to them, "It's been so long, Jack! We went to this camp, and Sophie lost a few more teeth, and I won the most snowball fights, and-"

"Calm down, kiddo," he chuckled, "First, I want to ask, you know Will o' the Wisps?"

Jamie nodded, "Yeah, Tooth told me she's her friend."

"Okay, so, for tonight's sake, I want you to believe in…" he whispered to Pitch, "What was it Mysie, called you?"

"Horse Rider? Don't even-"

"Right," he said with a grin, "I want you to believe in a friend of mine called Horse Rider."

"Frost…"

Jamie blinked and looked up, "…Pitch Black…" suddenly, he scowled and jumped up on him with his flashlight.

Pitch let out an indigent yelp, "Child, get _off_ me! I didn't do _anything_ to you!"

"Imma kill you! Quick, Jack, throw your ice on him or something…"

"Wait!" Willow called, she carried Jamie by the waist, he was still kicking in the air.

He kept turning his flashlight on and off in the poor man's eyes, "DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Jack hid his snicker behind his hand, Willow yelled, "Ja-ack! Maek him stoop!"

He sighed, disappointed that his fun ended, "Come on, Jamie, the poor guy couldn't kill a butterfly if his life depended on it…and that's saying something."

Pitch shot him a glare, an arrow of black sand whizzed past Jack's ear.

Jamie glanced at Pitch and then at the one holding him, "Oh, hi, Willow!"

She raised a brow with her smile, "Likewise, James, nauw if I put yew down, will yew keep yerself from harming my Da?"

"Your…" his face quirked in confusion then a look of shock replaced it, "Wait, Pitch is your dad?!"

Jack feigned shock, "Pitch is your-" when he noticed Willow's expression, he grinned, "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Pitch stood up and straightened his robes, "No, I'm-"

Jack elbowed him.

Willow nodded, "Aye, Jamie, an' jus' as much as yew want nae harm fer yewr _mhathair_, tha' same applies t'me fer ma Da." (mother)

Jamie glanced at Willow, then at her supposed father before nodding. She set him on the floor and he rapped his flashlight gently on his palm, "But if he tries anything…"

Any other time, Pitch would deny that he felt a bit creeped out from the child.

Willow brought her hands together in a clap, "Alricht, Mysie, yew can cum oot nauw." She whispered in Jamie's ear, "jus' yell 'Happy Birthdae!' whin yew swatch a heid o' bland, aye?"

The young girl came out shyly, feeling a bit awkward, and then went out to full out blushing when two spirits and a child called out "Happy Birthday!" she faintly saw from the corner of her eye Willow hitting Pitch upside the head and reprimanded him for not shouting with them.

She saw the brown haired boy and squeal, "Och, loch! Yer Jamie Bennet!"

* * *

**OMG! IT'S JAMIE BE-**

**Jack: Cut it out, Moonlight, or it'll get to Jamie's head.**

**Jamie: Jealous, Jack?**

**A_hem_, yeah, sorry about that, boys these days, huh?**

**Well...not much to say-WILLOW'S A GUARDIAN! *Fist pump* oh yeah! So, before Manny and his crew decided to become Guardians of Earth's children, Earth's spirits at the time decided to make their own group and coincidentally named them the Guardians, which is where Manny got the idea for naming his Guardians after he joined them. I know, there's something really weird with the oath, but I'll get to it later...**

**Ok, I'm really sorry for the lack of originality for Tooth's spell and Pitch's really 'alias'.**

**Anyways, I depart with the following:**

**5. reviews please and three more for Willow's Pic**

**A really awesome gift for whoever finds the person hiding in this story 'between the lines' XD I hinted about it in this a/n by the way.**

**Good Luck and Cheerio!**


	13. Chapter 13: Almost Ready

**Hey guys, I decided to put the a/n in bold. What do ya think? Kind of a..._bold_ move? XD**

**I'm soo excited, we've got a chapter or two left, unless my fingers decide otherwise, and then the REAL fun begins! Also, I have quite a trick up my sleeves!**

**So...I can see no one guessed the riddle. Well, here's the answer: if you look at her oath closely, you'll see it looks like someone...**

**That's right, one of the Wisps stuck itself in my story.**

**As we are almost finished with this novel, I just want to say I am so grateful to all the reviewers, the ones who added this in their faves/follows, even the views. I mean, we're close to 3,000 views, isn't that great? I'm really happy with the success of this novel so far and if we ever get a RotG sequel, be sure to expect a sequel to THIS story! But that's not all, after I'm done with this, I'll start with a series of drabbles and oneshots to keep this series alive.**

**Anywho, let's just get on with this!**

* * *

Chapter 13: Almost Ready...

* * *

Jamie cocked his head to the side, "How did you know…?" he then mentally kicked himself, of course she'd know, she's stuck with three spirits and so they must've mentioned him at some point.

"Oh, please," she said, "who wouldna kno' ye? Yer famous!"

"I am?" he asked, getting a bit excited.

She nodded fervently, "Yes! Ye saved _all_ tha' children o' tha' world _and_ tha' spirits! Yer a hero!"

"Wow," he breathed, "I'm a hero…"

Mysie grinned, "Ya, and when ye led out yer friends-"

"-and bring back the Sandman-"

"-and tha' celebration-"

"-cause Jack became a Guardian-"

"-it was pure, _dead_, awesome!"

He pumped his fists, "I know, right?" he then scrambled to his side table, "wait, wait, you gotta see this!"

The three spirits watched in amusement as the two diehard believers bonded over what they believed in. Jack poked Willow in her ribs, "Not bad, Wills."

She let out a small breath and scrambled away from him, "Jack!" she hissed, "Yew dinnae have t'tickle mi!"

He grinned and poked her stomach gently.

Willow instinctively wrapped her arms around her middle and frowned, "Jackson."

The boy tilted his head to the side, "Yeah?"

"Shuttup."

With his grin still intact, Jack mimicked zipping his mouth closed, locking it, and throwing the key away before idly swinging on his heels.

"You two," Pitch started in a low voice, "do you mind?"

Willow pointed at Jack, "_He_ started it, Da! _Chan eil geal-bhàn!_" (it's not fair)

He subconsciously racked his brain for the right words before replying, "_Chan eil an-sin crom shìos a'inbhe_." (then don't stoop down to his level of maturity)

The girl blinked at him, a bit surprised, before grinning and holding up three fingers.

Jack cut in, "Hey, are you guys insulting me?"

Willow said in mock surprise, "Och, nae, Jack, how can yew even _think_ that?" she placed a hand at her chest, "Am woonded, Jack, pure dead woonded."

"And, because of your sarcasm, I see you have," he leaned on his staff and questioned, "So…what language are you guys speaking? French? It doesn't sound like French much, or German…" he snapped his fingers, "Spanish! You guys are speaking Spanish!"

The other two spirits shook their heads.

Suddenly, everyone froze and stared at the door, the sound of footsteps were getting louder as someone climbed the stairs.

Frantically, the three spirits grabbed the blonde girl and flew out the window, just as the doorknob opened to reveal Jamie's mom.

"Honey? What was all that noise…?"

Jamie was sitting on the floor, seemingly oblivious to his mother as he played with his action figures. He looked up innocently and blinked, "What?"

"There was a lot of noise, Jamie, up here." She said slowly, then she remembered something and gave him a crooked smile, "Shouldn't you be in bed, mister?"

The boy rose off the floor, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "Uhh…yeah, I was just…so caught up with my toys and stuff."

"I see," she murmured, "Well, off to bed with you. Don't you want to go with your friends to the park tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" he said excitedly.

His mom chuckled, "G'night, sweetheart." She waved a finger, "No more staying up late, okay?"

He nodded, "Okay."

As soon as the door closed, Jamie scrambled to the window and pulled it open.

"Whew, that was close." Jack commented.

"Yeah," Jamie glanced uncertainly over his shoulder, "I can't stay up anymore, gotta sleep or else Mom will get mad."

Willow nodded, "Alricht, James, now gae yer hurdies in yer bed!"

(hurdies means your behind, butt)

He did a salute, "Yes, ma'am." He then grinned at Myise, "Happy Birthday, Mysie!" he waved and went in.

The girl was grinning like candle.

Pitch then took Mysie from Willow's hands and handed her to Jack, "Alright, send Ms. Mysie home. Think you can remember where she lives, Snow Brain?"

Jack frowned at the insult before cocking his head, "What about you two?"

He pointed in the direction of Mysie's house, "None of your business, now go! Sunrise is approaching!"

"Okay! Sheesh," Jack huffed before darting to Scotland.

Willow's eyes flitted from Jack to her father in worry, "Um…Da…whit's wrong?"

Pitch pinched the bridge of his nose, "It's-"

"I get it, it's Pitch." She said, a little rushed, "But why did yew send Jack away? Is sumthin' tha' mattar?"

He nodded stiffly and without warning took her hand and flew far away. They flew to Scotland and to her forest, with Willow struggling to be left free and asking what was wrong.

Pitch let go of her and stared her in the eye, a bit harshly. "Willow."

She blinked, "Whit?"

"What. Is. Going. On."

The girl studied him for a minute before cocking her head to the side, "Huh?"

He huffed, "Don't play dumb, girl, I can see it."

"See…whit?" she said uncertainly.

"Look at you!" he gestured to her with his hands before starting to tick off his fingers, "You look like wreck, to put it simply. Almost every time I see you, you look like you were in some sort of fight. You seem tired and not as powerful as you once were."

Willow watched him with wide eyes until he finished and let her eyes trail to the ground. "I…mi…well…" she wrapped her arms around herself.

He glanced at her, a thought came to him. He lowered himself slightly and said in a softer tone, "Is this because of me?"

She shook her head violently, "Nae! O'course nae, D-…Pitch, you could neva' affect mi so."

"Then what is it?" he pressed.

The girl took in a gulp of air and ran a hand through her hair as she floated softly in a pacing like fashion, "I…there's naething wrong…a-am fine."

Pitch folded his arms, "Don't do that, don't lie to me, _Willowiana_."

"Am not!" she hissed with a glare.

He didn't know where it came from, but it tumbled from his mouth as soon as it came, "Don't take that tone with me young lady!" he snapped, "I am your elder and you must respect that. _Tuigsinn_?" (understood?)

She stared at him hard, with a few strands of her hair over her face, giving her an ominous look. But when he looked closer, he desperately hoped it was the trick of the light; her eyes seemed to glimmer with unshed tears. She shuddered and looked away from him, instead opting to stare at the moon; not as light as it used to be.

"_Feum falbh mi_." (I must leave) she whispered before rising to the air and darting off.

His expression softened into sadness as he watched the girl fly, "Willow!" he called, but of course she won't answer. He sighed, what did he say? He'll admit the way he approached the subject was the best, but how else was he going to show her how critical the situation was?

Why did she cry? The idea baffled him, Willow didn't strike him as a weepy kind of girl, so his tone or choice of words hadn't been the problem.

Or were they? If he was honest with himself, he came out sounding more like her father than anything else…_which_ he was not.

* * *

A few days later, Pitch still hadn't mustered up the courage to go see her, and that was very typical of him. He had been so concentrated on her his duties were half-neglected. The Nightmares were quite overjoyed for this opportunity and started to plague children with too many Nightmares, much to Pitch's dismay.

So, to clean up the mess his mares so _kindly_ made, he had to go out in the field and manually get rid of their influence.

The ground blurred beneath him as Onyx carried him to different homes, he did what he had done with Mysie the very first time they met. He shot an arrow at a child, searched for the fear the Nightmares heightened, and brought it down to reasonable levels.

He was at one house at the moment, searching in the child's heart for what he needed, while quirking his eyebrow every now and then at the odd fears he found (Wait, some people are afraid of moths?!). However, he failed to take note of the supposed shadow moving in the corner of the room. He heard a sound and swiveled around, looking for any intruders but when he saw there weren't any, he rolled his eyes and turned around in a flurry of his robes. As he repaired the fear he muttered to himself in a very low voice until he heard something fall and froze. Instantly, there was a spike of fear from where the sound came, at least he knew now that it was a person. He finished his job with the fear and turned around to the place the person was hiding.

There were many people he was expecting, a younger sibling, a pet, or maybe some spirit. But when he saw who it was he didn't bother holding back a gasp.

"Toothiana?!"

She hovered in the air with the fiercest scowl she had and her tiny hands balled into fists. The empty place where his tooth once was ached dully at the sight of her balled up hands.

"What are you doing here, Pitch?" she hissed.

Pitch's eyes darted, "N-Nothing…" he composed himself, "I wasn't doing anything, and if I was, it shouldn't concern _you_."

She raised a feathery brow, "Really? _I_, a Guardian of Childhood, should have no concern over what you do _with children_?"

Well, when she put it _that_ way…

The child groaned and turned, mumbling something about food running after him to stop.

"What are you doing here?" Pitch asked coldly.

A quarter appeared in her hand, his hands instinctively tensed until he glanced at the child.

"Oh."

She eyed him silently as she hovered to the child's bed, her hand went under the pillow and brought it out with a small, shining tooth. They both flew out the window before they could deprive the child of their sleep.

"Alright, spill." Tooth said, her hand set firmly on the side of the building and the other resting at her hipbone, above her tooth pouch.

Pitch crossed his arms, "I wasn't doing anything wrong, I promise."

She eyed him.

He huffed, "Why do you always assume I only want to _harm_ children?"

"Guess, Pitch." She snapped, "Or maybe I should give you the real story before you taint it. You planned world domination and to have the whole world in only darkness and fear, need I mention anything else?"

The man growled, "I didn't even want that, I just wanted to be believed in!" he started to pace, "You all saw what it was like to be unseen for one day and were shaking in your boots where as I am subjected to that torture for the past six hundred centuries."

"But that still doesn't mean you can douse the world in your element!" she hissed.

Pitch stopped pacing, "What do you all even hold against me? I was doing fine for the first century or so, doing my work beside your bag of dream sand-"

Her eyes widened, "Sandy?"

He nodded, "-yes, Sanderson. Then you lot showed up and hate my insides for some unknown reason! Why, I've never known!" he threw his hands up in defeat.

Tooth stopped hovering and her small feet touched the ground, with her eyes downcast, she started, "When Tsar Lunar, MiM, appointed us as Guardians of Childhood, we had a mortal enemy named Kozmotis Pitchiner who was the Fearling King. When we defeated him, Manny told us to stay on Earth and protect the children here," she glanced up at him, "You reminded us of him, so," she shrugged.

"You assumed I was just as dark? Just as sinister?"

She nodded and worried on her lip.

Pitch sighed and leaned his back on the wall, he closed his eyes, trying to put all this information together, before snapping his eyes open and inquired, "Do you, by any chance, know where Willow is?"

"Willow?" she said, a bit surprised, "As in Will o' the Wisps?"

"Yes, is there another Willow out there?" he said a bit sarcastically.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked suspiciously.

"We…had a bit of a disagreement." He said slowly, it was better that she didn't know, even if they had, so far, reach a silent agreement.

"How?" Tooth inquired, "You two barely know each other."

He sighed, "With all due respect, Toothiana, but this is on a need-to-know basis."

She frowned, "Well," she started, "I _do_ have a right to know, _Pitch Black_, because she and I are very close and because she is a fellow Guar-" her hands flew to her mouth.

Pitch's eyes narrowed, "She's a fellow what?"

"N-Nothing, just nothing." She murmured with fearful eyes.

He let out a breath from between his sharp teeth, "You know I can detect your worst fears, and I can easily-"

"Promise you won't hurt her."

He blinked, "What?"

"Promise you won't hurt Willow!" she said loudly, "And don't tell her I told you, if you do, she'll hate me."

"Okay." He said slowly, feeling a bit spooked.

The Queen of the Tooth Fairies took a deep breath before saying quietly, "Willow's a Guardian."

For several seconds, the Nightmare King stood silent, staring at her intently, making Tooth feel a bit uncomfortable. She shifted her arms and tried staring at something else or to appear indifferent, but she was boiling under his stare. Finally, she had enough and waved her hands in front of his eyes, but when he didn't respond, she huffed and slapped him.

Immediately, his hand flew to his face, rubbing the now red cheek, "Ow! What was that for?" he moaned with a scowl.

"You're creeping me out with your stare." She said flatly.

Pitch raised a brow, "And you were thinking that I wasn't scary?"

"Well," she shrugged, "We're not exactly 'mortal enemies' anymore, so I thought you'd lose the scary thing."

He threw his head back and laughed dryly, "Darling, as long as you're a Guardian, and a Guardian of Childhood might I add, we'll always be mortal enemies unless you miraculously get your colleagues to stop wishing me dead."

Tooth scowled, "Don't make me slap you again, Pitch."

He cleared his throat, "Right, now I'd like to ask," He took a breath, "_WHAT?!_"

Tooth plugged her ears with her fingers, "What do you mean 'what'?" she asked a bit loudly, trying to get rid of the ringing.

He threw his hands up, "What do you _mean_ Willow's a Guardian?"

"It's simple, Pitch, she's a Guardian and protects humans, kind of what we do with children."

He hadn't heard the last part and started to pace fervently, "She's been a Guardian this whole time and hasn't told me?! Is she one of your spies? You lot have been spying on me with her?!" his hair seemed to spike up in anger.

Tooth raised her hand worriedly, "No, that's not-"

"I can't believe I actually fell for your sappy act a few moments ago! You all have been plotting against me right under my nose!"

"That's because it's a bit big," she mumbled to herself, Tooth shook her head and boldly flew to him before giving him a healthy slap to his other cheek.

He stopped pacing and rubbed his cheek, "Oh, for the love of-"

"Pitch, listen to me," she said, "no one is spying on you. Not us, not the other Guardian, not anyone, got it? Just because Willa's a Guardian doesn't mean she's against you."

He watched her with a scowl, "Promise." He said stiffly.

"I promise," Tooth held up her hand, "Guardian's oath." Her head cocked to the side, "Wait, why are you targeting her? You guys don't hang out much…or do you?"

Pitch glanced at her, "This conversation has ended." And he disappeared in the shadows.

Tooth growled, "PITCH BLACK YOU BRING YOUR _BEHIND_ HERE RIGHT NOW! THIS CONVERSATION IS SO _NOT_ FINISHED!" She folded her arms and mumbled to the side, "Next time I see him, I should be sure to be prepared with a whole dollar…in cents."

But next time she saw him, punching out his teeth would be the last thing on her mind.

* * *

Willow backhanded the shade away from her with her dagger with a war cry before swiveling and stabbing the Fearling next to her.

'**. . .Come with us. . .**'

'**. . .We'll take you somewhere wonderful. . .**'

'**. . .You'll be happy. . .**'

'**. . . Carefree. . .**'

'**. . .No worrying of the Guardians of Childhood. . .**'

'**. . .Or your forgetful father. . .**'

'**. . .The one who doesn't care of you. . .**'

Willow screamed and launched at them, slicing five at once. She blew at the blood-like shadows on her blade before panting harshly, "I will _never_ go with you." She spun in the air and landed a kick in one of them, "So stay the bloody _hell_ away!"

'**. . .But your father doesn't love you. . .**'

'**. . .He doesn't even remember you. . .**'

She shook her head and gulped in some air to keep the lump down, "Nae…that's nae true." She shook her head and said in a voice that turned to the Wisps' musical signal, "_YOU'RE LYING!_"

Immediately, thousands of Wisps came flying from all directions, flying through the Fearlings and tearing them to pieces. Willow, unable to hold back any longer, transformed to her Wisp form and charged.

Willow saw her forest bellow, she whistled to get the shades' attention before darting to her haven. She flew through many twists and turns, and lost them. As soon as she was sure they were off her tail, she perched on a tree and held out her hands in the position of the bow and arrow. Immediately, said weapons appeared, made out of her blue light.

"Guid thing I tuk shutin' lessons from Meri." She muttered before letting go. The arrow hobbled in the air, since she wasn't the best shooter, but it found its mark and hit the unsuspecting Fearling, tearing it to shreds. It let out a screech, bringing the attention of the others who came in moments later, ready to kill the light spirit.

Willow shot nonstop her arrows that seemed to appear from thin air. Soon, she was panting, she was sweaty, her muscles her burning, and her magic was getting weaker. To finish off, she brought her limited ability of light manipulation to play. She darted from one end of her forest to another, guiding the sunrays on the Fearlings until they were all gone.

The Wisps, who had held off the other Fearling in the sky, came to her aid when they were done. Their leader waved them off with a pant, "Am fine…gauw on now…do yer werk…"

They nodded and hesitantly left.

Willow took in a deep breath to calm her heaving chest, but that just made her lungs ache. She slid down the tree she was leaning on and buried her face in her black-sleeved arms. The blue waistcoat was discarded somewhere, but at the moment she didn't care.

She probably had fallen asleep because she woke up to someone shaking her arm and calling her name. Willow groaned and mumbled "Sguir…tha ceann goirt orm." (stop, I have a headache)

"Oh, thank goodness!" whoever was shaking her lifted her hair out of her face, "I thought you were dead, Willa!"

She blearily lifted her head, but was suddenly wide awake when she saw who was here, "Tooth!"

The Tooth Fairy let out a gasp, "Willa, your face!"

She cocked her head, or tried to without hurting her neck, "Whit 'boot it?"

Tooth poked at it, "Oh my god, so many bruises and cuts, it looks like someone used you as a punching bag!"

Willow removed Tooth's hands before she could see her teeth, "Am fine To-"

"Fine? FINE?!" her feathers burst up in anger, "Look at you! You look like a wreck, Willow! Where's your jacket?"

Willow waved a hand, " 'tis alricht, tha' Wisps'll gae it latre."

Tooth took her wrist, pulling her up, "Come on, I'm taking you to Santoff Claussen."

She panicked and pulled her wrist away in a sudden burst of energy, "Nae!"

The Tooth Fairy blinked, "Why not, Willow? This is serious! For someone to do this to a Guardian is bad, really bad, we need to tell North."

"Nae, please, Tooth," Willow pleaded, "I can't."

Tooth ran a hand through her feathers and sighed, "Fine, I'll take you to Tooth Palace, but you're not leaving until I know the whole story."

_As if_, Willow thought.

* * *

They flew to Tooth's home, many of the fairies becoming curious with the arrival of their mother's friend in such an odd state. They flew towards the back wall, where Tooth opened a set of doors and led Willow to the infirmary. Willow blindly followed her and mindlessly obeyed her to sit on the bed. She was so tired and so weak, she really wanted to return to Sop Glinn and sleep in her bed. But it was going to be a while before she got the chance to go there.

Tooth appeared after cluttering through her cabinets with herbs and creams and a bowl of water. She patted her face with a towel and started to put ointment on her wounds while tittering over how reckless she shouldn't be.

Willow vaguely wondered if Pitch was her spirit father figure, regardless of their past, Tooth was definitely a mother or older sister.

After her feathered friend was done, she sat next to her in silence. Finally, Tooth glanced at her, "Alright then, let's hear it."

Willow looked up, keeping her mouth shut or else she might utter indistinguishable sounds.

Tooth gestured for her to start.

She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, "I…some sperits were messin' with tha' Wisps…I had t'stop them…they decided they wanted t'fight me."

Tooth's eyebrows scrunched in worry, "Who are they?"

Willow shook her head, "Dinna kin, they were pure fast." She lied.

Her friend frowned, "Willow…" she always used her full name when she was serious.

She shook her head and insisted, "Dinna kin, Tooth." She got off the bed, " 'ave t'gauw." Willow said.

"Willow, wait!"

But the girl was already flying towards her destination.

* * *

"**Well?**" their leader growled, "**How did it go?**"

The Fearlings struggled over each other to be the first to break the news.

'**We're almost ready**.'

'**Just a little more time**.'

It grinned a sickly grin, mocking any happiness that ever existed.

"**Perfect.**"

* * *

**Ahh, I just love a good cliffie, doncha? No?**

**So, I hope I haven't overdone the fluff in this chapter. I hope you all are keeping count with the Gaelic words that come from Pitch, would be nice to use as blackmail later :D**

**I just wanna say something else about Willow, since she used to live in a household with two different accents of English when she was mortal, they sort of affected her. Yes, she speaks Scottish and Gaelic like a pro, but whenever she's pure infuriated, her accent is gone completely, with a hint of Pitch's. But only a hint, it's so faint you can barely hear it unless you strain yourself.**

**My sister requested *cough*threatened to kill me if I didn't*cough* I add a scene where our mysterious Fearling Leader appears. If I added a whole, large scene, it would be a little villain cliche, so, to compromise, I added the scene as a a cliffhanger :D**

**So, usual five, 'kay? and stay tuned for our next chapter which brings us closer to secrets unveiling!**


	14. Chapter 14: Reduced

**Wow, you guys read and review as fast as my fairies!**

**That is...if I had any fairies.**

**Anyways, as started above, thanks for the ever encouraging (and fast) reviews.**

** Aaaa: my story's interesting? Thanks! Nice name, by the way :D**

** SummerSolstice: OMG thank you!**

**and to all the others who reviewed: THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! We have a few more reviews and we'll reach 100 reviews! Isn't that awesome?**

**So, before I start, here's the first scene with Mr./Ms. Evil Mysterious, a nice, long scene like my sister wanted. And talking about Mr./Ms. EM, I see someone has tried guessing who our villain is!**

**Don't worry, we're getting to the part where EM removes his/her mask.**

***EM pulls off mysterious mask to reveal author* *crazy laugh***

* * *

Chapter 14: Reduced

* * *

Sop Glinn was much shadier than it used to be, the lights didn't play through the walls and reflect off the jewels. Instead, shadows left by the Fearling coated her palace, making it look dull and lifeless. Her Wisps whizzed to and fro, trying to keep up with the amount of people getting lost and the loss of believers. They were less bright, less innocent; it made Willow's heart ache. They were always in a constant risk of being hurt from the Fearlings, but Willow had gotten past mourning over the dead ones, she needed to concentrate on the ones she had.

She darted through the gates, watching the Wisps fly over her, under her, and through her, trying to get to their destinations. Willow sighed and held out her hand, making it glow blue, she stroked a random Wisp, giving it more light. It faltered in its flight and turned to her, it hummed out a message of gratitude before leaving.

Her room was located in the highest tower to act not only as her private area, but also as the watch tower, so she could see all of Sop Glinn and if any intruders were to arrive.

The room wasn't very large, like Tooth's, nor was it small like Pitch's; it was just average. The walls were made of reflective glass so she could supervise her Wisps without being seen and to dress or rest in peace. To her right was a soft bed and the opposite of it was two doors that led to a walk-in closet. On the wall opposite to the door was a wide mirror that opened to a window whenever she wanted. Near the mirror was a nice, comfy armchair with a small table next to it stacked with a few English and Gaelic books she would read in her spare time.

Ignoring the splendor of her room, Willow went to her bed and lied down, slowly becoming aware of the multitude of minor wounds from the Fearlings latest attack. She was vaguely thankful they didn't attack Sop Glinn. Before she knew it, her eyes had closed as sleep overtook her.

A noise startled her, she sat up and found Wispioni standing at the entrance of her room with a worried expression. Willow sat up and rubbed her eye.

"_Wispi, dé tha a' tighinn riut_?" (what is the matter?) she mumbled blearily.

'There's a..bit of a situation.' She answered, sounding quite worried.

"_Dé_?" she blinked, suddenly wide awake, and got off her bed, "_Dé rud a tha ann_?" (what is it?)

The mare only gestured with her head outside.

Willlow followed her down the corridors up stairs, she noticed her Wisps, or lack thereof, in the hallways. Soon, they reached the Main Room, and Willow's eyes widened; if there was a problem in the Main Room, it had something to do with the Mirrors, and if it had something to do with the Mirrors, then they were in deep trouble.

The Wisps were all standing, huddled up in the center as they watched the mirrors with pure horror. They had dwindled in number from before she fell asleep, she was starting to panic.

"_Dé rud a tha ann_?"she said as she flew over to them, "_Dé tha a' tighinn riut_?" she made it to the center before letting out a gasp. The Mirrors had stopped glowing, instead appearing dull. They showed people, lost, upset, all of the scenes were edged with grey and black.

"No…" she whispered, "_Chan, tha cha dean!_" (no, it can't be) said with her hands to her mouth in shock.

"**Oh, but it is, little ray of sunshine, it so definitely is.**" A voice echoed through her castle.

Willow froze, that wasn't her father's voice nor was this his work, he would never do this to her because he was mad, right? It almost felt like she forgot how to fly because her feet touched the ground and her knees wobbled, she made her way to Wispsi and asked in a low voice, "_Dé cho fad cadal mi?_" (how long did I sleep?)

'A week.' Wispioni answered without looking at her.

Willow's limbs seemed to drop limply to her sides. She snapped her head at the mirrors and scowled; her hands glowed blue and she darted towards them, slashing at them with her light, trying to get rid of the shadows. She heard screeches and screams, but she didn't pay attention, instead concentrating at the task at hand.

Willow turned to the Wisps, "Go, fill every part of this place with light, I want that intruder to _rue_ the day they were born!"

They compiled and started to fly about the palace, filling every nook and cranny with light, trying to kick out the intruder.

She heard a rusty laugh echo around her palace again, her eyes flashed white as It spoke, "**You innocent, naïve, stupid girl. Do you really think a few of your living Nightlights can kick me out that easily?**"

She held up her dagger, "Show yourself." Willow hissed, "Or are you a coward like the _shadow_ you are?" she spit.

"**Coward?**" it repeated in a cold tone, "**You are calling me a coward? You should know better than to insult **_**me**_**!**"

As it said those words, Fearlings crawled from their hiding places, rushing towards her like a strong wind, and striking her multiple times. Willow screamed in anger; she had had enough. She ran and grabbed her staff from its place in the middle of the seven mirrors and with all her might crashed it into the ground while channeling her light through it. Blue light tendrils rushed around the palace, eliminating the shadows.

They screeched, but instead of rushing away like they should, they started to pile up as they whirled like a hurricane, getting stronger and more violent by the minute.

"_Chan_!" (no) she cried, "_Sguir_!" (stop)

They were breaking down Sop Glinn. The walls exploded into a million shards, flying into others and cracking them to pieces too. The moonstones dislodged from their places and crashed into others. The Wisps flew around frantically, panicking like never before.

"_Mac-màthar_! _Falamhaich!_" she said and watched them leave. (everyone , evacuate)

Wispsioni wouldn't leave her, 'Come on, Mistress! We must leave!'

Willow shook her head violently, holding out her arm in front of her face to protect it from the glass shards, "_Chan, feum mi sàbhail Sgàthan!_" (no, I need to save the Mirrors)

'There _are_ no mirrors left, Willowiana!' Wispioni neighed and gestured to the circle.

They were beyond recognition now, one was broken vertically in half, another was jagged in all places, and the others were just as bad.

'_**DUCK**_!' Wispioni screamed and turned to sand covering the girl just in time as a moonstone the size of her head flew with such force towards a mirror, it broke to tiny pieces.

A deep crack echoed; Willow looked around for the source of the noise before slowly looking towards her feet, a large crack had appeared in the ground, it was getting larger and larger and connecting with others quickly.

"**What do you think, light spirit? Do you like my artwork?**" the voice taunted.

"Leave me alone." She hissed as she tried to stay balanced on the broken floor that was starting to teeter.

"**Why should I?**" It chuckled, "**I need you for my plan. Along with every other spirit I've got.**"

Willow tensed and forgot the floor was demolishing, "Y-Yew…yewr tha' ane whose been nickin' sperits?"

There was only a chuckle to answer her.

The girl looked around and saw it, a writhing shadow standing at the fence of her loft. Very tall, very creepy, and very dark. It was so dark Pitch looked like a star compared to _this_.

She scowled and let out a battle cry before launching herself at It with her staff. It waved a hand at her, shadows flew ready to tear her apart. Willow paid them no attention, she flew head-on, her eyes targeted on the intruder of her home.

The shadows were relentless, slashing at her, giving her new scars and deepening the ones from the broken shards of glass that were flying about. She glowed, keeping them at bay, and in a flash was at the shadow's leader, her staff sticking through its middle.

When It looked at her, she froze, the amount of hatred on Its face was so strong it made her scared out of her wits. The shadows churned before dissipating and making the being disappear.

Willow stood for a few seconds, watching where It once stood before shakily picking up her staff, "It seems tha' Fearlin' chose some weaklin' t'be their so called 'leader'."

Suddenly, she was flying and met the column with her face. Her back ached from the punch, she felt blood trickle down her lips from her nose.

"**Did you really think you could finish me off that easily?**" it hissed in her ear.

Willow swerved away, watching Its every move with caution. Suddenly, a familiar neigh came to her ears and she turned to gasp; the Fearlings were attacking Wispioni with no mercy.

'Willow!'

"Wispioni! Nae!" she called and without a second thought she flitted towards her. Something caught her waist and kept her pinned in place, "No! Please, let me go!" she pleaded, "_She's dying!_"

"**That's exactly what I want you to see.**" It said casually, "**What's better than watching your friend die in agony, hmm?**"

"No, no, leave her…" she whimpered, she shut her eyes, but was surprised to find them unable to close in shock.

"**You are going to watch her till the end.**" It said slowly, its arms still holding her in place.

The shadows fell upon the mare, who screeched and whinnied, kicking violently at them, but they were too much. Soon, the Fearlings overwhelmed her, they sucked out the bright blue till Wispioni was nothing but a pile of black Nightmare sand.

"_**NO!**_" Willow screamed, finally managing to get free and flew to the remains of the mare, she tentatively took the sand in her hand, her tears wetting it. She heard a screech and looked up just in time to see the Fearlings descend upon her. They crashed through the ground, the glass scratching at her, and wouldn't let go of her. She watched as the palace exploded to a million pieces before raining down like hail.

In a fit of fury, Willow did not hold back and transformed to her Wisp form, she sucked any light that came in contact with her and threw it at the Fearlings. They screeched and flew away, along with the leader.

The next moment, Willow found herself on the ground with the last of her Wisps look at her worriedly.

She pushed herself up and winced, whatever of her wounds that had scabbed over cracked with her movements, also she had a headache.

"Whit…whit happened?" she mumbled. It all hit her, the attacks, the intruder.

_Wispioni…_

Her eyes widened, "_**NOO!**_" she screamed so loud, she was sure North heard her. She sniffled and whiped her nose; blood stained her sleeve cuff, but she didn't care. It wasn't fair, it wasn't! She would've gladly given herself up for the Mare, but it was too late.

Willow stood up and looked down at herself; she was covered in blood, scars, and bruises. She was homeless, she and Pitch were currently not on the best of terms so go it him was out. Tooth, same; she just saw her recently and she was more of a wreck than before.

She lied down and closed her eyes, maybe a little sleep. She was so tired and weak, sleep sounded very enticing, even if she was sleeping on freezing snow. Besides, if she slept, her wounds will heal quicker. Or maybe she'll wake up and all this would just be a dream.

A Nightmare.

* * *

Bunny fist hit the table, "It's Pitch, it's tha' shadow rat bag, an' it's so obvious. Only a drongo won't b'able t'tell."

"Are you sure, Bunny?" Tooth said hesitantly, "M-Maybe it's someone else, like Annistasia."

The Pooka shook his head, "Can't be, she's friends with Lady Sylph."

Tooth sighed, "Can we please think this out before we drag the guy here and bombard him with questions?"

He scowled, "Tooth, I dunno kno' wha' ya see in the guy t'make 'im seem innocent, bu' all evidence points t'im." He stated as he started to tick off his fingers, "Missin' spirits, shadows, people losin' belief, an' when he 'ad Willow captive."

Tooth had the urge to either wave her sword if she had it around or to tear out her feathers, "Bunny, if he had her captive, he would've used her as bait, maybe left something to bring us in!"

Before Bunny could say anything, a bright light appeared and two yetis came out with a large sack. They dropped the sack unceremoniously on the ground with glares pointed at it as the being got out.

Pitch adjusted his robes and glared at the yetis, making them falter, one went to bring North. He turned to the two spirits in front of him with a scowl, "What do you want? Is it too hard to ask for privacy?" he growled, his hair seemed to go down a bit more, like a cat's ears.

Tooth glanced at Bunny, who was softly rapping his boomerang on his palm threateningly, "Um…"

North came in, "You brought him?" He asked, a yeti gave him a positive response. He nodded to the hairy creature and finally came into the room, his gaze not as hard as Bunny's but still hard. "Eggnog?" he offered.

Pitch looked disgusted, "You're insulting me, aren't you?"

North shrugged and placed the cup on the table, "Your loss, Pitch." He glanced at the window and smiled, "Jack, Sandy, good zat you came."

Jack landed on the rail, "So? What're we doing? Our last meeting was a little too recent so I'm gonna guess-" he stopped when he saw Pitch standing, looking vey cross, he blanched a bit and his joyful demeanor disappeared, "Oh." He said quietly.

Sandy had stopped floating and was standing on the ground, he didn't even accept the eggnog from North. A question mark appeared over his head.

Bunny pointed at Pitch with his boomerangs, "He's been nickin' spirits like crazy."

"Bunny," Tooth said quietly as she flew between him and the man, "Let's not jump to conclusions, I'm sure Pitch didn't do this and is not related to this at all." She continued, glancing at his slightly confused face, probably confused he had someone standing up for him. She turned her head to his direction slowly and asked tentatively, "R-Right, Pitch?"

"No," Bunny snapped, "It's 'im, 'am sure."

"No," Pitch hissed, "I haven't 'nicked' anyone and I'm not planning to." He pointed at the Pooka, "You are, very much in fact, jumping to conclusions."

"Am no'!"

"You are." He snapped back, giving him his back.

"No, am no' an' I would kno' if I was."

"You wouldn't know if it hit in the back of the head."

Tooth flew in between them and separated them after they got so close, a bit like when Jack Frost was in the similar situation, "Boys! Enough. You guys are quarreling like the ones you're supposed to protect!"

"He started it!" Bunny rushed before Pitch could say anything while pointing at the dark spirit, successful poking his eye.

Tooth gave Bunny a scowl, he obeyed the silent order and went to lean on a column, but not without giving Pitch a withering glare.

Sandy walked a few steps to be in everyone's view and conjured a question mark followed by an arrow pointed at Pitch.

North scowled in concentration, "You vant us…"

Jack perked up, finally understanding what the Sandman was saying, "Did you guys try asking?"

Bunny snorted, "Yea, we'll ask 'im 'Are ya the one whose behind the recent attacks?'."

Pitch face palmed, "I am _not_! How many times must I repeat it?"

"Besides," Bunny completed, "he 'as Willow captive."

_The irony_, Pitch thought.

"Pitch?" Jack asked while pointing at him with his staff, he waved it with disbelief, "Pfft, can't be. That's just unimaginable, y'know?"

Bunny raised a brow, "How come, Frostbite?"

Jack froze (no pun intended :D…maybe), clearly not expecting that response. He caught Pitch giving him a warning look that plainly stated he was going to payback if Jack blabbed out the secret, "Because…" his eyes darted around, trying to locate something to give him an idea, "Uh, one of his, um, Nightmares attacked him and…they, um, ruined his lair?"

Pitch's eyes narrowed down, Jack shrugged.

Tooth cocked her head to the side, "Really?"

Jack nodded, more confident, "Yep, his lair's just demolished, it's a wasteland down there."

Tooth turned to Pitch, "This is true?"

He avoided anyone's gaze, trying to look discomfited, "Y-Yes." He muttered.

"Courtesy to yours truly." Jack said with a bow, "Never knew ice to chance its thoughts."

"Vhen vas this?" North asked.

"Recent." Pitch said, "Very recent, now let me leave."

"Good," North said and then called, "Bring the sacks!"

"Oh, no, I'm not using that mode of transport." Pitch snapped his fingers and a Nightmare appeared.

"I thought…" Tooth started.

"That was _one_ mare." Pitch emphasized as he mounted Onyx, who snorted at the Guardians.

While the others took no note of that, Bunny looked highly offended, "Hey! Take tha' back, sheila! If I'm an ova' grown rabbi', than yer a mutated prancing pony!"

Jack frowned, "I thought I was the prancing pony!"

"Not now, Frostbite!" Bunny snapped before turning to the horse. The mare let out a soft neigh and then proceeded to give him the silent treatment.

Bunny rolled his eyes and gave it his back while muttering that the horse was a wimp. He looked up when he realized everyone was staring at him, "Wha'?" he asked obliviously.

A yapping mouth and a cluster of animals appeared over Sandy's head, just as Pitch's snickering faded with his departure.

"Yeah, I speak with animals, is tha' too unbelievable?"

* * *

Later that day, Jack soared with Pitch, trying to annoy him in any possible way.

Pitch's eyebrow twitched, "Stop it, Frost."

Jack looked up, "Huh? Oh, right, just trying to see if your dress would end up like the Nightmares. That was close in the Pole, good thing we threw them off."

The cloud Pitch was standing on came to a halt, he whirled around with an infuriated scowl, "_What?_"

Jack stood up from his crouching, "Well, when I first froze the Nightmares, they ended up all weird looking, so I thought if your dress is also made out of shadows/ sand/whatever it would have the same reaction." He shrugged, "Guess not, y'know, since frost and cloth don't go well and tend to crack. Why would you use cloth at the end of your dress anyways?"

It seemed the sand clinging to his being piled up, becoming long, large tentacles with frightening faces on it. Pitch himself had transformed in rage to a being purely of black sand, "_Dress? You call my attire a dress?!_" he/it hissed in an echoing voice.

Jack shook a bit, suddenly realizing how small he was compared to the man, "Uh…well,"

"It. Is. A. Robe." It hissed one more time before reverting back to his original form, "And following up to that, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FROSTED OVER MY ROBES?!"

Jack gulped.

"_Och_, keep a calm sooch, Da, yewr dre-…claithes ar fyne."

* * *

**Aaaand there I go, creating magnificent, beautiful flying palaces and then bringing them crashing down and demolishing them.**

**I am just TINGLING to get the action on, but alas, we must wait. I have one HECK of a surprise for you all later in the story (did I mention this before? I don't know :D), I absolutely can't wait!**

**Oh, the part where Pitch transformed to his...other shape is reference to the comics of Rufftoon, anyone saw them? They have them on RotG wiki.**

**So...I dunno, is there anything else to explain-**

***clapping people walk in, clapping for no reason***

**Me: O.o**

***Clapping people walk in front of Author, taking him/her with them***

**H-Hey! You guys, put me down! *to readers* As you can see *struggle* the Clappers are back *struggle* and, um, have taken me hostage *struggle* Don't forget to put five review in that lil' box down there! *struggle* Ten if ya can, please oh please!  
**

**See ya! *struggle***


	15. Chapter 15: The Revealing

**Hello! I'm alive, or as Willow would put it: Still Alyv! And I brought with me a new chapter, that has a shocking secret embedded in it.**

**We're close, so close to the action, just wait!**

**So, I'm really, really happy with the reviews, you guys do know how to bring a smile to my face :) see that? Lovely emote they made up.**

**I just want to thank "candle dark", who is a guest, for sticking with this story for a while. Thank You Candle Dark!**

**And, of course, all the followers of this story, and reviewers, fave-ers (O.o is that a word?)...and the people who took a look at this story, rolled their eyes and closed it (your views are appreciated!)...and the people who wanted to flame but didn't...**

**And ME for bringing such a wonderful story into existence! (sometimes I wonder if this 'pride' of mine will be the death of me one day...)**

**Just a tiny warning, this has quite a bit of reference to the books...which I don't even have.**

**Let's just start this story, alright?**

* * *

Chapter 15: The Revealing

* * *

In utter defeat, she threw her head back on her silk pillows with a heavy sigh. She may be the fierce Queen of the Tooth Fairies and nearly a millennium old, but in truth she was chosen at an age near to Willow's, making her no older than the newest Guardian of Childhood. No one knew of her secret except for Willow (surprised?), so her fellow Guardians and everyone else thought she was a really tiny adult and dismissed her youthful behavior as joy (and her obsession with teeth a part of her job description). If they knew, she would be the one _being babied_ instead of _babying_ them and lose her spot as the motherly one.

When Toothiana had held her tooth box firmly in her small hands and in a burst of feathers her troupe appeared, when her many aunts of the Sisters of Flight started to turn into wooden carvings, she was thrust with a powerful job in which she struggled under its weight at times. It often left her wondering, what if the parents of the children in Punjam Hy Loo had left her alone, where would she be now? Well, her parents wouldn't be dead and her aunts wouldn't be frozen in wood, the Palace would be filled with the sound of the half-bird women's singing, and she would be with them.

But what about the children of the world? If she had been safe in her home, the children would've been victims to Kozmotis's evil, living lives of despair and in never ending nightmares.

And Baby Tooth, the little fairy wasn't a copy of her although she looked very much alike. It had been sometime after they defeated Kozmotis for good when she asked whatever entity that existed to give her a little one for herself. A little one, with the purest heart and the most playful manner. And so, her supplications had been answered when she opened her room window to find a little fairy a smaller version of her fluttering happily. She hadn't had a name until Jack called her Baby Tooth.

The ruby box tinkled softly as she shifted on her bed, the box was the same one her parents gave her when she was young, it was filled every one of her little baby teeth and she hadn't seen her memories for a long time. Ever since the Monkey King's last appearance and turned her to a diminutive, she hadn't opened the box, feeling a small bit of shame, as though seeing her memories would show her parents the spell her nemesis had placed upon her. She fingered the top, marveling how the light caught in the ruby and glinted, creating a dazzling effect of light.

_Well_, she thought, _they told me to see the memories when I'm lost of confused_. Tooth took a deep breath and held the box firmly in her small hands and in no time was in the embrace of her best childhood memories. She remembered her father's laugh and her mother's smile, how the younger feathered women of Punjam Hy Loo would gather and sing in their mesmerizing voices Indian folk songs, how she used to play with the human children, and how when her last baby tooth was lost and she sprouted wings and bodily feathers.

She sighed; it was a light sigh, yet it was so nostalgic, she craved to see her parents one last time, craved for those little, trivial things that filled her life when she was young, before she became Queen of the Tooth Fairies. Despite the nostalgia, she was happy, enveloping her in her own little world.

Tooth got up, heading to the door when she stopped, there was something different, her hands itched to hold her sabers. She took a deep breath before swiveling around in a flurry of feathers and color…

…to find her trusty sabers on her bed, ready to be wielded.

They were still the same, still shining in the light without even a nick in them. There was no age, it was as though they were just made.

If they're here, then that means…

Her facial feathers were still there, going up her nose to form her eyebrows to go to her scalp and create the headdress-like feathers, changing from green to mixture of blue, purple, and gold. But instead of her whole head with feathers standing up, it was just the front, the rest of her feathers had grown longer, getting less until they stopped at her shoulders, after that was deep brown, coffee colored hair that went a little after the middle of her back.

The feathers on her body were the same, shiny, colors, only they lost the scale-like appearance, having gotten a bit longer and softer. The anklets, bracelets, and multiple earrings feathers hadn't changed, even the golden feathers on her head stood tall, waving slightly when she moved her head.

Her drapery feathers had lengthened from her shins to her ankles, slightly dragging on the ground, the colors till vibrant. They complemented her wings nicely.

They were wide, strong, and just majestic. Reaching a foot above her head, her wings were covered in a mix of feathers, enlarged ones of the hummingbird, and the softer ones of flying birds. They were green nearest to her body, then turning blue and indigo, with golden tips at the top. With the drapery, they looked like a hybrid between a butterfly's and bird's wings.

Tooth touched her reflection in shock, how did this happen? It had been so long since she saw this, she felt the memories of her first years as a Guardian come back to her, she was maybe a bit cold and arrogant when she dealt with her fellow Guardians, but ever since being reduced to a diminutive of her true form, they were her only support.

Baby Tooth flew in, squeaking quickly of how something was wrong, of how the fairies were changing! Their wings became opaque and were covered in feathers to resemble a humming bird and a tiny sword resting next to where they would carry the coin!

"Baby Tooth, it's alright! Calm down, darling." Tooth said, gathering her daughter in her hands. Baby Tooth hadn't arrived until a while after she was cursed by the Monkey King, and since she resembled her mother, she came with dragonfly wings.

As soon as Baby Tooth touched her mother's hand, a flash of white and the same transformation happened to her. Her wings became that of a hummingbird and sword appeared in her hands, only she was distinguishable from her peers by the golden tips at her wings and the golden feather standing up from her head from the little feathers that grew in length to resemble her mother's.

Tooth smiled as Baby Tooth curiously looked at her feathered wings and fingered the longer feathers of her head before pulling out her sword.

"Be careful with that, alright?" Tooth chided as she set her daughter on her vanity before going to her closet and pulling it open; beautiful Indian outfits hung from inside or were folded neatly in the shelves. Saris for special occasions with vibrant colors and threaded with gold, shoes small enough to fit her feet, shirts with intricate embroidery…she wondered idly if Willow had more clothes than she did. If the Will o' the Wisps did, she didn't show it, the Rapunzel haired girl didn't always change her outfit. Other than the dress she was born in, the longer version of her waistcoat she wore for a few centuries, and her current outfit, Tooth didn't see her in any other clothes except for some party dress she wore a few times to North's after Christmas parties.

She went through her clothes for some time until she came across what she was searching for and tugged it on. Wide, Indian styled pants that reached right above the golden feathers of her ankles and a shirt that was a bit wide and had long sleeves. She slipped on a pair of red shoes and stuffed her sleeves in her gloves which were light green and reached her elbows. Everything she was wearing seemed to have some form of embroidery on it. To finish off her outfit, she placed a transparent, pink scarf that was beaded with tiny crystals and a thin, accented crown.

As soon as Tooth stepped out of her room, many of her copies flew towards her, awing over her appearance. Tooth giggled, "Alright girls, pull yourselves together! I know you're happy with the makeover, but we must stay in schedule!"

There were many squeaks and chirps from her armies.

"You're right." She agreed, "This well leave them shocked. So I want you all to keep your eyes sharp and steer clear from their paths, they mustn't know."

* * *

It had been a few days since he had bumped into Willow, and he only saw her a handful of times since.

She was just awful; her skin was pasty pale, her flight was jerky, her skin was blemished with the remains of bruises and scars, her nose looked like it had been broken at some point judging by the faint crook in it, and her eyes were dull with grief.

He had to admit, this Willow was different to him, not only in terms of looks, but also in attitude. She had lost her sass and slight arrogance, instead being shy and humble. If he paid attention, he'd find her eyes glistening and she'd wipe them hurriedly before he could notice. She shied away from shadows and anything dark.

The worst was that she looked _lost_. And the Will o' the Wisps, the Guardian of Guidance should _never_ be lost.

She said that some idiotic spirit had tried to have their go at her palace, and it turned out they had brought back up. But when he pressed her for who the spirit was, she dodged the question smoothly.

At the moment, Willow was flashing through her Looking Hole Wisps as fast as light, literally. All Pitch saw was a light of light, maybe a flash of black hair or her eyes, but he could barely discern her from it.

He took his chances and thrust his hand in and when he was sure he had something solid he pulled it out.

Willow scowled at him and crossed her arms, "Am nae a playthin' yew jus' pull into existence whenever yew fancy."

Pitch raised a brow, "Really? And who is the one who drops into my lair, calling me out?"

She glowed her hands and let the light balls fly into the portals, "I gae yew a choice t'answar or nae. Yew just dragged me out o' ma' werk."

He sighed and sat down at the foot of a tree and gestured next to him, "Sit, you look ready to fall."

Willow complied, tentatively sitting next to him as she watched the Wisps flash quickly. There was some silence, only filled with the singing of birds, and the soft hums of the Wisps…and their leader, of course.

"So," he said, "Anything new?"

She tilted her head to the side, twisting a long lock of hair around her finger, "Nae really, jus' tha' same, same routine."

"Ah." He knew she was lying, but he was afraid if he pressed on the matter, she'd give him a similar reaction like last time.

"An' yew?" she asked, facing him, "Whit 'boot yew?"

"If you consider being shoved through a sack and tossed through a magic portal new," he shrugged, "Yes."

She grinned, "Really? The Graet an' Powarful Nightmare King, Horse Rider, was handled like a-"

"Yes." He said, chuckling softly, "Didn't the same happen to you some time ago?"

"Oi, that was a pure lang while ago, Pitch, a day aftar-" she faltered before quickly covering up, "a day or twei aftar our horse ridin' competition."

"Hmm." He hummed and was quiet.

She asked him suddenly, "Da?"

Pitch had half a mind to correct her, but chose not to this time, "What is it?"

"Whit dew yew dew when yew feel tint?"

The question was just wrong, coming from Will o' the Wisps. How does one who instills Guidance feel lost? He snapped his head at her; she did look lost, like a child left to wander alone with no help, no guidance. "You're feeling lost?"

Willow shook her head furiously, "Nae! O'course nae me! Mysie's askin' 'cause she feels lost. She wanted me t'help her."

"Wouldn't you know the answer to your question?"

"Well, yeah," she tugged at her hair, "but I wan' t' kno' yewr opinion."

"I'm flattered, really."

"Jus' answer tha' question."

Pitch though for a moment, "I…trace my steps back…to where I started to get-" he gave her a smirk, "-'tint' and evaluate my position in correspondence to my goal…then I set out on a new road that's less confusing."

Wow. That should be put in the scrolls of history.

Willow nodded, "Wyse werds, Da, wyse werds."

"You're being sarcastic?" he said in mock hurt and placed his hand on his chest, "I'm wounded."

She cocked her head to the side, "Am supposed t'feel sairry?"

"Maybe."

Willow glanced at her Wisps and froze; what was left of her portal Wisps were convulsing as shadows swam through them. The Wisps, being smart enough, guised their panic with work, some of them gestured for her to leave. She was sweating with panic and fear, from the corner of her eye she saw Pitch. She had to distract him not only from the Fearling attack, but also her own fear.

She abruptly got up and tied her hair quickly in a long braid, "Ar yew up fer a raece?"

Pitch raised a brow, "Another horse riding one? You know I'll win."

She forced herself to grin, "Nae horses."

"My sand does not carry me as fast as you think."

Her grin grew wider, she hoped it didn't look like a grimace, "Who said anythin' o' usin' fancy powers an' such? I meant a regular, runnin' raece."

He got up and dusted his robes from any remaining pieces of grass, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not a runner."

Willow shrugged, "Nyther am I, 'tis fair."

"My legs are longer, I'll win you."

"I taucht maself acrobatics, I'll win yew tenfold."

He huffed, "Fine, brat." He removed his coat, revealing a black shirt and pants (none are tight, thank god!). If he ran in that coat, he wasn't going to make it, judging from the last time his life depended on running.

Willow did the same, "Een, twei, thre!"

At once, she shot off, Pitch only a few centimeters behind her. Of course, she was at an advantage because she memorized the whole forest like the back of her hand, every path. She dodged the branches and bushes in ways that would put both acrobats and professionally runners to shame and can only be compared to Jack's skills.

She glanced over her shoulder, "Whit's tha' matter, Pitchy? Haein' a hard tyme kaepin' up?"

He rolled his eyes and ducked at the last minutes before a rather thick branch could smack his face.

In a moment of joy, Willow let out a laugh and did a handstand before jumping back on her feet and resuming her running.

A few minutes later, she could see Pitch clearly from next to her.

"What did I say? I have long legs."

Willow rolled her eyes, "Fyne, yew've prooved tha' much, but," she grinned evilly, "Can yew dew thys?" very quickly, Willow jumped, twist in the air a few times and then landed on her hands. She took a few steps on her hands before pushing herself off to land on her feet, only it was at that moment something hook with her hand and she toppled into a rather large bush.

Pitch poked the bush, after having his time laughing, trying to stop snickering. "Are you dead, dear?"

At once, her head popped up from the bush with her hair in disarray and many twigs and leaves sticking out, "Still alyv!"

Her appearance brought another round of laughter.

Willow pouted, "Oi, cum on nauw, am nae pure funny. I culd'ae dyd fro' tha' foll!"

"If you see yourself," he said after another episode of mirth, "you'll know what I mean."

"Whiteva'." She dismissed.

* * *

In the end, her nimble feet had won his long legs, she wouldn't let him leave until he admitted she was faster, to which evicted a squeal from her.

Willow never knew she could go so far in acting.

It was night now, the stars were much paler and the moon wasn't even present, as though it were a new moon. Maybe it was a new moon, Willow didn't remember.

She came to her clearing, half surprised by the amount of Wisps…or lack thereof. There was only a literal handful left, all huddled together with a shadow looming over them. With a sudden show of stealth, Willow crept forward with her dagger in one hand and the other glowing intensely. Before the Shadows could register what happened, she decapitated them swiftly and silently.

The Wisps hummed in thanks and flew to their leader, Willow sighed and held out her hand; a few Wisps sat in it and she let it glow, giving what she could of her energy to her soldiers.

It was sad, she thought, how once she was the Mistress of the Wisps, a fierce warrior and a regal figure to be reduced to fading legend, a homeless spirit.

A shadow of what she once was.

Anyone who couldn't see that was just stupid.

Willow sat down on the ground and held her head in her hands, the Wisps hummed soft lullabies and comforted her, telling her things will be better soon. She glanced at them and breathed out a chuckle, "Déjà vu, _Sopach?_" (wisps) she asked, remembering a time when she was just fifty years old and still hadn't figured out who she was or her purpose, afraid and upset of how no one saw her. Then Toothiana found her and helped her become the person she had been a month ago.

She sighed, not even bothering to wipe the tear that slid down her cheek, sometimes she regretted seeing her memories, if she hadn't she wouldn't be so lost, so confused now. Maybe the Fearlings wouldn't be trying to make her life a living hell (which they had succeeded in terribly).

The locket sat in her palm; it was rather pretty, although simple. The chain was thin and delicate, holding a round pendant the side of an eye with vines and flowers engraved into the silver. She fingered the name engraved in the middle, while she may be resurrected, the person she once was is long gone. It dawned to her that she was trying to recreate her life from before, when she was human. Maybe it was a side-effect to finding her memories? She didn't know.

Willow flipped the pendant, looking at the inscription at the back; written in beautiful handwriting in English and Scottish Gaelic was:

_A Fierce Warrior_

_A Brave Princess_

_A Precious Daughter_

_Jewel of the MacCarnaig Clan_

Another tear slipped down her face, leaving a glistening track. Silently, she slipped the necklace on and lied down to sleep in the embrace of her precious memories.

Before she slipped into unconsciousness, she whispered, "Nae anymoor."

* * *

The Man in the Moon lived for many years, no, centuries. Coupling his long lifespan and the fact he could see almost everything that happened on Earth from his vantage point, it was safe to say that he was a very wise man. There was barely anything that surpassed him now, nothing could surprise him.

So he was more than shocked to find more than half of the Moon covered in shadows, their leader standing on them haughtily, probably arrogant to be the second leader after Kozmotis.

"_**Seyy, seyy, Pmonar ro Lainu, ti'd deon o gnol horam**_." The leader purred. "_**Pa damona wa yas, Tsar Lunar teh Kasma?**_"

(Well, well, Man in Moon, it's been a long time.)

(Or should I say, Tsar Lunar the Fifth?)

"_Hum, ti __sah__ deon o gnol horam, Fearling Gnik_," Manny nodded, his back to the shadow horde as he adjusted his cuff, he said as he watched from the corner of his eye, "_Pa damona wa yas_," he turned around with a stardust sword,

(Yes, it _has_ been a long time, Fearling King)

(Or should I say,)

"Kozmotis Pitchiner?"

* * *

**WARNING: LONGEST A/N EVER. Enjoy.**

**Well, this chapter's going to need quite a bit of explaining.**

**First off, I based Tooth's appearance off the book version, which meant a lot of Google Images (more than half didn't even have Tooth in them, stupid Google...). HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that it is the same. I sort of...melded the two together. She's the same from the movie, only difference is that her wings are a bit smaller than the book version and are covered in feathers larger than hummingbird ones with the same colors as the rest of her body and that the feathers on her head are a longer except for the front so that when you see her from the front, she looks the same like before with the exception of feathers reaching her shoulders like hair and then normal hair after that. **

**As for Baby Tooth, I dunno, she couldn't be a copy of Tooth, why would she be different from the rest? Sure, my story of how she came to be may not be everyone's cup of tea, but that's my take on how Baby Tooth is not even Tooth's copy. I wonder if anyone else has this canon in their stories.**

**I dunno, I feel like I'm speeding up here, maybe not. We know that Willow spent a week sleeping in the last chapter in her palace, so that's about a week not seeing Pitch. Then, after the destruction of Sop Glinn, she spent some time alone to recover, so that's about two weeks. So that means there's about a week difference between this chapter and the last. Anyone confused? **

**Yeah, so if Willow was practically covered in blood just a week ago, how come she appears here just fine with only faint scars and bruises? Well, I'm with the idea that spirits can heal quickly. BUT that does not mean they cannot be injured fatally, as you all saw when Sop Glinn was first attacked.**

**The running scene? Totally random, I just felt like I needed a lot of fluff here...and maybe because she was diverting Pitch's attention from the Fearling's attacks.**

**I just realized when I was writing about the necklace that was the first time I described its appearance in the story...when we're almost at the end. God, I'm weird.**

**I should've named this chapter The First Chapter with a MiM Scene. The language they were talking is the same that the Fearling leader was using when IT was first introduced, which is language of the stars. And no, it is not based on any language except that there are some English words written in reverse.**

**So, you all feel happy that you know who the villain is, hmm? All proud and stuff. It was probably predictable, maybe, I dunno, but anyways, I'd like to congratulate Xion5 for guessing before. IT WAS RIGHT! You get cookies!**

**But they're virtual, if I really made cookies...look, once I tried to make popcorn. long story short, I had a pot half filled with burnt popcorn and yellow popcorn with so much oil it could rival the amount of oil found in the Arabic countries. So, yeah.**

**Anyways, while I leave with the cliffie haunting you all, I'm going to give you guys a warning...I might update a bit later because I have TWO stories on other sites (not fanfiction) and they need updating. So until I can put up a new chapter for each one of them, this story is gonna have to wait. No, it won't be months long, don't worry, even I can't wait that long.**

**Also...I have this little idea, another RotG fanfic, and I started writing a few chapters for it. Sigh, sometimes I wonder my knack for writing is a curse more than a gift.**

**Usual five reviews, 'kay? Cheerio!**


	16. Chapter 16: The Dark Side of the Moon

**Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter! Yes, I know I said I was going to be gone for a while, but then I got writers block on one of my stories...also I thought it would be better for me to finish this and get it off my back before giving my full attention to my other child-...stories.**

**And, yeah, I'm aware I only got FOUR revs instead of FIVE, but I was SO EXCITED to get this chapter up. I'll overlook this once and that's it, alright? I'm not asking for reviews for fame so much as to know your opinion. My first fanfic barely got any reviews and I had no idea what my readers wanted or what they thought and it drove me crazy, there SO MANY VIEWS on it! So I deleted it in the end and I do not want that to happen here too, 'kay?**

**Besides, something MAJOR in the plot line happens in this lil' chappie!**

* * *

Chapter 16: The Dark Side of the Moon

* * *

A shadow arrow barely missed her ear, instead slicing a ribbon to brush her cheekbones. Willow spun around and drove her dagger into the shadowy beast with fury; _no on_e messed with her hair. The Fearling let out a screech and collapsed upon itself. The rest of the shadowy beings, seeing the fall of their comrade, abandoned what was left of the Wisps and charged towards the girl.

The largest shadow of all appeared in front of her, ghastly white eyes stared at the girl planting only fear in her heart, '**Give up, Will o' the Wisps, we've completely destroyed your Wisps and you.**'

Willow scowled and forced herself to stand up, trying to keep the shaking of her hands and her weak legs hidden, "W-Wrong…yew…yewr spaekin' lys. Am nae destroyed ye', still ave' goe muckle t'keep meh up."

'**True…you still have something that keeps you alive.**'

The way he, or it, said it wasn't comforting at all.

What resembled a smile appeared on the shade's face showing many sickly teeth.

'**Then we'll just have to get rid of it!**'

'**Yes!**'

'**Let's do it!**'

The shades except for the largest dispersed in all directions; Willow looked around frantically and gasped when she found her last Wips, grey, on the ground. It glanced at her before vanishing completely.

Willow let out a cry and hurried to the place her Wisp once was, a sliver of naivety hoping she could revive it. Suddenly, she felt the most horrible feeling, it felt like falling and cold fingers were grasping onto her heart, making her want to cry. Instead, she turned to the shadow, who was smirking smugly at her, and whispered, "Whit…whit did yew dew?"

She already knew the answer.

* * *

The dark spear flew at him, but it was quickly decimated by the stardust sword. The young Lunar skidded away from the force of their weapons clashing, stirring moon rocks and dust.

Kozmotis held his staff cockily in his hands, "There is no hope for you, Young Lunar Prince, we are at the dark side of the Moon. This side never faces the Earth, it is impossible for you to contact anyone!"

"Wrong," he said, "you're wrong, Kozmot-"

"That man does not exist anymore!" he hissed, "I am the Fearling Lord, no one else." He swung his staff at him.

Manny barely dodged in time, a small tear appear at his arm. He glanced up from his small wound and started to run towards the bright side of the moon. A look over his shoulder confirmed Kozmotis' advance upon him, whenever he passed a mirror, he directed the light at the dark man. Kozmotis snarled and shielded his eyes from the light, he stopped running and started to take his time to cover himself with shadows.

The short man ran quickly, he made it to his living quarters just in time and grabbed a device that looked like a microphone. Instead, it was a radio that only the soldiers of the Tsar could hear, "To your stations, moonbots! The Moon Clipper is under attack by code Black!"

The Moonbots, golden in color and shining from the light of the sun that reflected off the Moon's mirrors transformed to combat mode at the sound of their leader in danger. With their sword out and their lights glowing, the Moonbot army charged.

Manny took a paper and his pen and started to write as fast as he could in English a note to the Guardians of Childhood. As soon as he was done and deemed it worthy, he placed it in the satchel of his trusty Lunar Moth and commanded it to go to the Guardians.

He glanced up at the stars just as the Lunar Moth took flight and started to fly towards Santoff Claussen. Nightlight had left a few centuries ago, roughly the time Jack had been born, to regroup with his family in the stars. Maybe he could bring him back…

The short man went to the highest part of his living quarters; it was a small room with a long tube that pointed towards the stars like a telescope. Only it wasn't; Manny looked through it, adjusting the angle and then, with a deep breath, started to press the buttons on the handles in succession. If one looked far away, they would find a light blinking in and out, like a code. It was a strong light, could be detected many lightyears away, a handy device it was, created and fixed into every ship in the Golden Age for travelers to notify each other from far distances.

Suddenly, the sound of crashing was heard, he rushed to the radio. The Moonbots kept calling reporting their status…and it was bad.

* * *

_A few days later..._

She threw her dagger at him, it flew so fast it was a wonder how he managed to dodge in time. Willow scowled, "I dinna kin whit' wrang with yew, _**athiar**_, bu' this attitude is driving me crazy!"

"You already are!" he retailed as he shot a blast of black sand her way, "I am minding my own business one day and then _you_," he pulled out the dagger and pointed it in her direction, "drop in with the illusion that I'm related to you!" he spun it in his hand and threw it back at her.

Willow fell back in an arch and the dagger whizzed over her stomach before sticking itself deep into a tree. She pushed her legs up into a handstand and then jumped onto her feet gracefully. "But you are! 'Ave swatched me' memories an' saw them all! What proof dew yew have to counter me?!"

Pitch faltered slightly, barely managed to leap out of the way of her attack, and then scowled. He summoned a few horses who appeared from the shadows from all sides, making the clearing seem smaller. Willow looked around, holding her dagger in front of her, just daring the horses to come near. Relentlessly, Pitch snapped his fingers and all the Nightmares flew into the sky and twisted into a large mass of billowing black sand before crashing down onto the girl.

Willow's scream echoed through the clearing until there was a flash of blue light from the middle and said girl shot out of the black mass, slicing through with her dagger.

Standing up after the attack from the Nightmares, she looked anything but a serene and calm leader of the Wisps. Her hair pooled around her, shadowing her face and making her eyes looking colder and piercing. There were cuts in her jacket and her hands slightly shook. The look in her eyes was blooding murder.

"Is that how a man treats his child?" she said in soft, but sharp voice. Only one person used such a deathly tone when enraged, and that person was just about to get there right now.

Pitch snarled and revealed his scythe, with every swipe, he bit harshly, "I. Am not. Your. _FATHER_!" He swung the scythe and hit her in her stomach with the other end of his weapon.

Willow flew into the nearest tree and crashed into it with the wind knocked out of her. She slid down the tree and crumpled at its roots, shocked and half conscious.

He strolled towards her slowly and poked her with the scythe, Willow groaned and pushed her hair out of her face. She shook her head slightly to get rid of the dizziness and looked up to meet her father's deathly gaze before backing away and looking anywhere but him. Pitch summoned away his scythe and held his hands behind his back, but just before he could say something, she got up shakily and dusted off her clothes.

"Tha' onl' reason yew won, _Da_, 's because 'ave last 'em al." she snapped coldly, the title she'd been using for weeks with warmth she used now in an insulting tone.

He was just about to wave it off when it clicked, Pitch asked warily, hoping he was wrong, "What do you mean 'lost them all'?"

Willow folded her arms, "I mean, every one of my believers are gone, id-…" she held her fist up, like she wanted to punch him, but sighed and let it drop it her side and her shoulders drooped, "Ma' last een stapped believin' t'day, earl' in tha' mornin'." She murmured.

His heart dropped, he had been trying to bring the feeling of being invisible for so long to the Guardians, but when he saw this on her, it just…wasn't right. He lowered his head slightly, "I'm…sorry."

She let out a heavy sigh and sat down, holding her head between her hands.

Momentarily forgetting his anger, Pitch light placed his hand on her shoulder.

Willow tensed under it and shrugged it off, "Please…dinna tooch me." She mumbled.

He clasped his hands behind him, taking a few steps away from her.

She looked up, feeling he was about to leave, "Luk…I…jus'…" she breathed out heavily, "Jus' leave me alone." Willow stood up, " 'twas nice knowin' yew, we had a nice friendship here, but this…this is tew much fer meh. Yew 'ave yer awn problems an' I 'ave mine from nauw ann." She said, slowly taking steps backwards.

Pitch frowned slightly, "Why-"

"I cannae…I's wrang whin I saw ma' memories an' thoucht yew were still ma' _athair_, bu' it seems in this life yewr a stranger, luks can be deceivin'." She floated up, "I'm sairry, D-…_Pitch_, bu' jus' bein' with yew braeks ma' heart, 'tis tew much." She bowed her head slightly, "Cheerio."

He wanted to call to her to come back, but already she had floated above the trees and flown off. Instead, he watched her receding figure blankly, his hand curled into a fist at his side before relaxing.

Pitch felt the Moon's light on his face and he turned to the glowing rock in the sky, "Well, isn't that lovely." He said sarcastically.

* * *

Tooth flitted around the night sky, her restored wings beating strongly behind her yet just as fast as the dragonfly ones. She let out a sound of delight, feeling the wind blow her feathers and hair behind her, the gift of flight was truly exhilarating. The mini fairies that accompanied her also squeaked in delight, doing various tricks they thought impossible.

She missed this, being able to fly so high and so fast and yet still feel like a queen. Her swords hung at either side of her thighs like North, just in case she ran into any hostilities.

Suddenly, she heard the familiar sound of tinkling that came with the arrival of the dreamsand. Tooth looked behind her just in time to see one of Sandy's dreams growing to reach a child, fairies of sand flew alongside the trail, dancing daintily. A bit panicked, she hid behind a building until she was sure Sandy wouldn't notice her and flitted in the air, she snapped her head in every direction.

Something crashed into her and she stumbled in her flight, Tooth rubbed her head, annoyed, and then looked up…only to freeze.

"Oh, um, hi…Sandy…"

The golden man was gaping at her, he was so shocked he couldn't even create a simple symbol with his sand.

She held her arms, feeling insecure, and picked at an imaginary dust particle on her gloves.

When she looked up, she found many symbols flitting over Sandy's head as he made many gestures with his hands, finally he calmed down and formed a clock and gestured to her. 'When?'

"Uh, a week?"

Sandy's eyebrows rose up, 'didn't tell us, why?'

She scratched the back of her neck, "Well…I wanted it to be…a surprise."

He nodded.

"You remember this, right? I know it was so long ago, but you had been there…before the curse and all."

Sandy nodded eagerly and then made a little confetti explosion over his head, 'congratulation.'

Tooth smiled, "Thank you, Sandy." Before he could leave, Tooth grasped onto his sleeve, "Could you keep it a secret? I don't want the others to come storming into the palace just to see my wings."

Sandy smiled and patted her head, he was the only one of the Guardians to know that Jack wasn't the only young one in their group.

* * *

The moon, paler than it should be, shone back: _this really isn't the best time…talk, Pitch…_

The message wasn't as clear as it once was, the rays were weak and if he peered closely, it looked like a small speck of black were raging on the Moon's surface.

_I don't have much time, Pitch, so I'll make this quick_. The beam hit the ground and the shadow of his sword appeared.

Pitch scowled and shook his head, "I don't understand, MiM, what has this got to do-"

_When you made an alliance with the Fearlings, they hid away your sword, but you managed to keep the little trinket at the top, didn't you? If you break the chain for it, you'll understa-_

The moonbeam disappeared suddenly, and left the message incomplete.

"What will I understand?" he shouted, maybe the Moon would hear, but no moonbeams arrived.

Pitch sighed, his eyes glanced around and making sure it was clear, he pulled out the trinket. It was an odd thing, actually, when he had been born, he found it hanging to the hilt of the sword that was with him. It was an embroidered cloth with the faint picture of a running horse, the cloth was barely the size of his palm. With it were little, decorative chains. When he made an alliance with the Fearling Leader, he deemed the sword useless and made the Fearlings take it away. He snatched the trinket when he had the chance.

Glancing at the moon, he ripped the bundle of chains from the embroidery, breaking the string that held them together. He stared at the remains of the trinket, starting to doubt MiM's message, when a really harsh, really bright light hit him.

Many snippets that gave him the sense of déjà vu came to him full blast, a whole life with a childhood, marriage, and the childhood of his child.

And of course…his death.

_The demons they had prisoned were starting to take down the prison. Many men charged with weapons ready, taking down as many as they could. The demons were very strange but very fearsome creatures. They were made only of pure shadows that took a misty form and had ghastly, white eyes. Only those with the strongest hearts came to guard them._

_He ran as fast as he could, tearing out a long sword that almost looked gold when held right in the light, and charged. The men were required to use the shiniest metals to bring down the creatures, after all, light beats shadows. The sword slashed through the creatures, they let out a horrible screech and dissipated to nothing._

_A man with fiery red hair fought alongside him, "Kieron! Behynd yew!"_

_Immediately, he swung his sword quickly and decapitated the demon, "Thanks."_

"_Nae praeblem."_

_He caught sight of the prison, many demons flying out, killing many men. He let out a sharp whistle; hundreds of flaming arrows flew down at the shadows, taking them out._

_The arrows stopped, with no more shadowy beings coming out. One man gingerly stepped forwards, picking up a stray arrow and throwing it through the prison entrance. There was a moment of silence…_

…_and then all Hell was unleashed._

_Hordes of demons flew out, letting out screeches that would make eardrums bleed. The man who threw the arrow was found, spitting out black blood, his eyes went back until they were only white. Slowly, he transformed into the ghastly creatures._

"_Evacuate!" someone shouted; the soldiers started to retreat._

_As he started to run with the rest, he heard someone call his name. The redhead from before was pulling at his leg that was stuck in a hole. Kieron glanced at the retreating soldiers before turning and running towards his friend._

"_Come back, Sir Kieron!"_

"_He's a dead min!"_

_He ignored them, running and slashing through the horde of beasts. He got his friend out, who kept thanking him non-stop._

"_Not now, you can thank me later. Start running!"_

_As both men started to run back to the others, they could see the shadowy beasts beating them there, cackling as they tore apart the men. Something grabbed him from behind, bringing him down._

_The redhead turned his head at him, but Kieron gestured for him to continue running. The shadowy beasts dragged him away._

'_**You should've listened to your friends, Kieron**__.'_

'_**Now you'll die.**__'_

'_**Leaving a trail of broken hearts.**__'_

_He struggled against the creatures' harsh grip, "No! Let me go, demons!"_

_They collected upon themselves, becoming bigger and larger and flew into the air, leaving him alone. Kieron shakily got up, dusting himself off, and took his sword in his shaking hands…_

…_only to have the demons fall onto him. They entered his body, trying to taint him, to make him their vessel. He tried to think of anything white, to imagine a light or a glow._

_Slowly, his life faded away._

_The moon appeared in the sky, bright, full. Moonbeams descended on him, but the Fearlings would not leave this new person. The moonbeams and shadows mixed together and washed over him, healing the wounds, and erasing his memories…_

Pitch blinked, almost feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He stared at the little trinket in his hand with wide eyes before glancing at Onyx.

"Did you…did you see that?"

The mare cocked her head to the side in confusion before shaking her head.

"There was…I had a childhood, I had a family! I had a wife and a child!" he rambled, a bit too excitedly for his tastes, but he didn't care, he had a whole life before this! "I was a noble, I remember now. I had a daughter who was obsessed with being a princess warrior." Suddenly, he froze.

He had a daughter, who was a pure Scottish, and looked very much like him.

"Sheena." He murmured, "This fixes everything…all what that girl's been rambling about for so long is real?! And I was just an idiot and wrote it off as hormones!" he leaped onto Onyx, the mare obliged and flew into the air.

There was one person they were going to, and that person was the daughter of Kieron Uilleam MacCarnaig.

* * *

**...you know, after taking some time to look over this chapter, I realized I should've named it "The Chappie Where there's Too Much Fighting", but it's too long (trust me, I've tried it) and I like the current one better.**

**See? What did I say, major events? Yeah, Willow's lost her believers thanks to Kozzy, Willow's and Pitch's relationship ends, and Pitch regains his memories. If you haven't noticed, I sort of referenced to the original story where Pitch and Kozzy are the same person with Pitch's human name...Kieron, Kozmotis, get it? I couldn't find a proper family name that starts with 'P' and it's quite popular with Scots to have their family name to start with 'Mac' which means 'son of...' like Jackson means 'son of Jack'. **

**And I just added 'Uilleam' 'cause I wanna. I'm not good with origins so either Uilleam is the Gaelic version of the English 'William' or William is the English version of Uilleam.**

**I'm sure you guys would've expected me to add a series of little snippets of Pitch's memory, but it would've basically ended up the same like Willow's only from _his_ point of view. To appease you all, I'll add a few chapters exclusively about Pitch's memories in the drabbles, 'kay? Example: if you you all remember correctly, Willow's mother (in Willow's memories) called Memory Pitch 'Euan'. But how could this be when his human name was Kieron? A mistake? No, it is not, in fact, it is a long story that will include how Caroline, Willow's mother, and Kieron met...and that would probably be the most romance I would include here...maybe...**

**And I also have this little drabble idea of where there's a war, and Sheena (Willow) wants to accompany her father, but he fears for her safety and tells her to stay. However, Kieron never payed attention to the young servant 'boy' who accompanied them. One, fluffy oneshot and one VERY angry mother comin' right up!**

**Oh, yeah, almost forgot; the 'demons' the soldiers were fighting in Pitch's memory were actually the Fearlings, at that time, they believed in magic and supernatural a lot more than now, yeah? So of course, they believed in the existence of supernatural monsters and detained them to be safe. This is a bit of a parody of Kozmotis's death, except that Pitch didn't die because the Fearlings took over his body...instead, the Fearling's shadows and the moonlight sent from MiM mingled together and Pitch Black was born. I'll elaborate more on this in later chapters, after all, there's a plan the Fearlings were trying to execute. Whoops! Did I hints something ya'll shouldn't have known?**

**Yeah, that's it, act all proud 'n' smug that you found out something special and secret from the plot.**

**One last thing, I GOTS A TUMBLR ACCOUNT, FY-NA-LY! I have the link on my profile, but if you're lazy, go search on Tumblr for the same name as here...and I have the same picture, but if you don't know my profile picture, I'm deeply shocked and wounded by the fact you never went on my profile before...**

**Cheerio! And please, five reviews this time, please? I'd like to reach 100 reviews at least by the end of this story!**


	17. Chapter 17:Loss of the Will o' the Wisps

**The chapter has arrived! Really, the reason it took so long to write is because there was a scene I couldn't get right, so I feel like I hate this chappie. *shrug* but Willow liked it, so, yeah.**

**Your revs made me so happy! Really! Thanks guys so much! For me being in a totally awesome mood, take some cappuccinos with lots of froth and whipped cream!**

**We've got a few more chapters on this story and we'll be done! I'm so excited!**

**Ah, yeah, remember the Clappers? Yes, um, sadly they fell down the stairs when they were clapping to the tune of 'We Will Rock You' and died. All of them.**

**So, now that we got that out of the way...**

* * *

Chapter 17:Loss of the Will o' the Wisps

* * *

The hurt in her chest was too much, it tore at her like a knife tears at flesh. She couldn't stand it; Willow had lost everything, she lost her strength, she lost her believers, she lost Wispioni, she lost Sop Glinn, and of course, her friendship with Pitch.

She was alone, afraid, nothing more than a young girl in a horrible mess she created.

Willow walked through the town, not even bothering to flinch as the people passed through her, and watched the ground sullenly. If she looked up, she'd find pictures popping in her head, the things she needed to lead people to. But what can she do? Her Wisps were gone, her powers dwindled to nothing more than making her body glow, and she felt weak. She couldn't even fly properly anymore!

What was worse was that she had alienated everyone that could've helped her. She regretted this thoroughly, if she just told the Guardians of Childhood of her situation, they could've helped her against the Fear Leader. But what about Pitch? Well, they could've been still enemies.

It didn't really matter now, he probably would want to stay as far as possible from her. What was she now compared to him? After fixing his ways, he gained quite a few believers, making him stronger, while she lost hers as quickly as sand flows through her fingers. He didn't need her.

Looking up from her thoughts, Willow found herself at the end of a cloud. She sighed and sat on it, running her hand through the soft texture of the clouds. There weren't as many as there should be over England, maybe the Spirit of Clouds was taking a break.

Long ago, there was a young farmer in Japan. One day, he found a snake trying to eat a spider. Feeling sorry for the spider, he fended off the serpent and saved the insect. The next day, a young woman came knocking on his door, asking if he'd be interested to hire a spinner. He agreed, as he had much cotton. The woman said she'd work under one condition: he wouldn't see her while she worked. So, he gave her a room and she worked from the beginning of the day till dusk. When she showed him her work, he was surprised by how much she spun in such short time.

While working one day, the man became curious of her speed. He looked through her window, and was surprised to find her shadow, not of a human, but of a spider!

He confronted her, asking if she was a witch, but the girl revealed that she was a spider. That she was the same spider he saved before and that her work was her way of thanking him. The man let her stay, and she was overjoyed.

But this happiness was short-lived, while she spun the cotton, she was surprised to find a snake in the basket of cotton! The girl was frightened and fled from the room, running as fast as she could from the snake. Unfortunately, she had eaten much cotton and it slowed her down. She then glanced up at the sky and an idea came to her. She created a long rope from the cotton inside of her and threw it up, it caught in the sky and she pulled herself up, escaping from the snake, but also leaving the world. She now lives in the sky, weaving clouds out of her spider silk, painting them either the grey of a storm, or bright white.

Willow met her once, when she flew really high looking for the right place for her home. Cloud Weaver had been the one to help her hide Sop Glinn by making extra clouds around it.

She figured the girl was kidnapped, seeing how the clouds were getting less now.

Willow brought her knees to her chest; her life was destroyed, why should she bother through all this? No one wanted her, neither the humans, nor her family, so why bother staying? She took a deep breath and stood up, she called as loud as she could, "Am here! Dinna yew mingy shadows want me? Come an gae' me!"

Suddenly, as though the Fearlings were listening and waiting for her to say that, swarmed around her, like a hurricane, with her in the eye. The largest one leered down at her, '**I'm glad you finally saw the light.**'

She scowled, "Yew ar horrible with puns." She spit. She didn't get a warning when a gaping hole appeared under her and she was sucked in.

The Will o' The Wisps was gone.

* * *

Pitch raced through the night, sending tendrils of black sand whenever he passed over a country, adamant to find the long-haired girl.

The rush of memories was still coming to him, fast, fresh. It made his purpose for this life all the more important.

Was it a coincidence that his daughter was a spirit as well? How could have not noticed the similarities before? While she got a lot from her mother, she still was the spitting image of him. He couldn't believe he actually missed some people from his mortal life.

But none of that mattered now, he needed to find his daughter. He remembered, something from long ago, when Wil-…no, _his daughter_ was just a little baby.

_Caroline giggled as their young girl twirled on the carpet many times, babbling some song as she tried to imitate the dancers from the party. The girl came, and tugged at her mother's skirts. Caroline bent down and kissed her daughter's forehead, the little girl showed a smile with one tooth barely poking through the gum, before toddling to her father and also pulling at his pants, wanting him to do the same. He obliged and she returned to dancing again, as though nothing had ever happened. The young girl had been doing the same thing every few minutes for the past hour._

_His wife smiled, "She's a praecious, aye Euan?"_

_Kieron nodded, "Of course, 'aye' Oline."_

_She gave him an annoyed expression and swatted at his arm, "Yew kno' I haet that, Euan!"_

_He laughed, "Of course, that's why I like it, as well as your amusing reaction."_

_Caroline shook her head and bent down again, this time scooping up the girl and sitting her on her lap. She cooed a bit to her before resting her head on her chest and bouncing her leg gently. Their daughter snuggled to her mother and sucked her thumb, her wide eyes slowly closing._

"_She'll be a Da's girl when she's gron up." His wife commented softly._

_Kieron glanced up, "Oh really?"_

_She nodded, "Och, aye. Yew dinna saw how she tries t'imitate yew? Gie her a stick an' she'll slash it 'boot like a sword!"_

_He waved his hand and flipped a page in his book, "She'll grow out of it soon. Just give her a few years and she'll be pursuing dresses." He titled his head to the side, "At least, that's what my sisters were like."_

_Caroline shook her head, "O'course nae, Kieron! She'll maek a wonderful fychetr when she grows, yew culd hae her in yewr armies even."_

_Kieron looked up from his book with a raised brow, "Shouldn't mothers, especially noblewomen mothers, discourage boy-like behavior?"_

_A glint of mischief appeared in her blue eyes and the corner of her mouth tilted upwards, "Unless thase mothers were lad-like themsaelves."_

_His eyebrows -very thin ones, at that- shot up and he stared at her for several seconds before clearing his throat. They had been married for two years, but it seemed his wife was more than what meets the eye._

_Her face softened and she placed her hand on his arm, "Kieron, yew'll always protect her, wouldnae yew? Whether she's a fychetr or a dress-pursuer?"_

_She had a right to ask, men these days seemed not to care for their daughters. A girl was useless unless she was married, after a certain age, marriage was very hard._

"_Of course I will."_

The memory made him smile a bit, but he quickly wiped it away, there was a mission to be completed, he shouldn't waste time on frivolous things. He looked down and found himself over England, that was good, he must be near her. He dove up, looked around for a blue glow, only to find a large, black hurricane of Fearlings. They cackled and laughed, spinning faster and faster, if he peered closely he found a faint blue glow making its way through the gloom.

He only knew one person with such a glow of blue.

Pitch summoned his scythe, scowling harshly, and Onyx flew towards them. He readied his scythe and slashed at them, but they caught his scythe and it went into the hurricane. He didn't through anymore sand, if he did he could make things worse. Instead, Pitch summoned away Onyx and transformed to a shadow before diving at the Fearling horde. To his horror, he found Willow in the center, not even struggling as the Fearlings shot out tendrils of shadow, wrapping around her. She looked…defeated.

Still a shadow, Pitch tried to cut through the ropes, but whatever weapon he conjured was still a shadow and only went through the Fearlings. Panicking, he tried pulling at Willow, maybe he'd free the bonds.

She glanced down at him, probably mistaking his shadow form for the Fearling's antic. She looked up and opened her mouth to speak, only for a gaping hole to appear under her and suck her in. From outside, the hurricane glowed blue before turning upon itself into a spinning ball and then dissipate.

Why couldn't he be a light spirit?

Pitch knew where the Fearling's hideout was, he could assume where they were holding the spirits…but if he showed his face there, that might be the last place he'd see. He needed help.

But who would help? The Guardians were mostly gone except for few, other spirits…now that he mentioned it, there were more Guardians left than regular spirits. The Man in the Moon was having communication problems, obviously.

A small voice in his head murmured a suggestion, but it made Pitch shiver in disgust. _No_, he could never grovel so deep. This would be by far the worst thing he'd ever done. They would not only reject his plead, but also they would try to kill him for unknown reasons.

Well, most of them.

But this was for Willow, right now he shouldn't think of himself. Besides, it didn't matter who helped him, what was important was saving Willow. Yes, he'll save her and come back, nothing to worry about.

With a sigh, Pitch turned Onyx's direction with the flick of his reins northward.

* * *

Tooth rubbed her arm and glanced up; they had just finished a meeting, and explain her situation to Jack. They all kept glancing at her every few moments, as though expecting her to go Queen mode.

When she had first been chosen as Guardian, she was a bit cold with them. Tooth didn't trust anyone then, after what happened with the Monkey King and how the parents of the children betrayed her. So the most contact she had with the Guardians was when they needed her. However, when the Monkey King came back and placed a spell on her, she found out that she could trust them, they were the only people there in her time of need.

Suddenly, black sand flashed from a dark corner, it reformed into one form they wished (some of them) they would never see again.

"Guardians, I-"

Boomerangs started to fly in his direction. Bunny snarled, "Ge' outta 'ere, Pitch!"

Jack made a move to stop Bunny, but he stopped talking when North pulled out his sword.

Pitch's eyes widened and he practically danced away from the boomerangs, "No, wait! I-" a boomerangs wacked him in the head. He winced and rubbed the forming bruise, "I come in peace."

"Yeah?" Bunny said, swiftly catching his weapons and throwing them repeatedly, "Well you'll be in _pieces_ if you don' leave!"

Tooth would've snickered along with Jack if the situation wasn't so tense.

The dark man scowled and threw black sand in Bunny's direction. Before the Pooka could see what he did, the black sand went in his eyes and he fell asleep into a nightmare, slumping on one of the poles. North glanced at his friend before slashing his sword at Pitch.

He wasn't really paying attention to the other three Guardians at the table, trying to get his attention.

While trying to keep away from North, Pitch glanced at the others over the Russian's back, "You know you could help me instead of screaming your head's off!" He didn't notice North's attack. He was backhanded by the sword and fell near the fireplace. Looking up, he went cross-eyed at the sight of the sword between his eyes.

Something flashed and North found himself holding his sword against another. One that was long but swift.

"Toothie? Vhat are you doing?"

She didn't let down her sword, "Don't hurt him, North!" she said sternly, a bit of her regal demeanor surfacing.

Jack flew from the table, "She's right, Pitch didn't do anything and you and Bunny start attacking him. He could be in need of help!"

Pitch stood up and composed himself, wincing a bit when he moved his jaw, a bruise form "Actually, I _am_ in need of help." He said quietly.

Sandy formed a question mark.

He rolled his eyes, "Unfortunately, you are right, Sandy." He looked up at the rest of them, "While I wouldn't come to you when I am in need, there aren't many spirits left, as you know."

"Yes, ve do." North stated, sliding back his swords when he received a pinch from Tooth. He rested his arm on the hilt like an armrest, "And are you related to ze spiritz disappearences?"

Pitch groaned and would face palmed if his cheek wasn't throbbing, "If I was, North, I would've slaughtered you when I had the chance." He narrowed his eyes, "And believe me, I had a _lot_ of chances."

North narrowed his eyes back at him.

Sandy glanced at Pitch and titled his head Bunny's way. _'If_ _you keep acting like that, I'll let Bunny go full Pooka-mode on you_'

Pitch looked at the sleeping rabbit with a Nightmare trotting on his head like a unicorn. The mare comically settled between his ears like a cat after a while.

Jack leaned on his staff, "What did you need help with, Pitch?"

He looked back at the teenager and his eyes flitted to Tooth before sighing, "It's not _me_ who needs help. It's…my daughter."

Confusion swept over the Guardians, except one. Jack's eyes widened, his grip slackened around his staff. "Wait, Willow? What happened to Willow?"

"Willow?" Tooth's eyes widened in shock, "Wait, Willa's your daughter?"

Pitch froze, not knowing what to do.

Random symbols appeared over Sandy's head, but he was probably not aware of it. North was in deep thought.

Jack, carelessly, planted his staff on the ground, nervously hoping they didn't notice his lack of…surprise. Out of nervousness, frost started to spread from the staff on the ground, it kept going until it went to where Bunny was slumped. Bunny groggily shook his head, "Frostbi'? What…happened?"

Not really noticing what happened, Jack said absently, "Willow is Pitch's daughter and she needs help in something."

Bunny stared at Jack for a while before fainting.

Pitch looked at the mess, everyone was making such a fuss for such a tiny detail! Why did he need their help again?

'Because you'll be killed at the first sight?' Onyx suggested in her melancholy way.

Pitch rolled his eyes, "Oh, thank you, _darling_, I needed that." He said sarcastically. He noticed the stray elf, drinking from Sandy's mug of eggnog and an idea struck him. He picked it up and then shook it, the bell brought their attention quickly.

Sandy shrugged, '_Welcome to my world_'.

He dropped the elf and subconsciously wiped his hand on his robe, feeling a bit disgusted, "Can you all pay attention to the situation at hand?" He said in a loud voice, "Willow right now is in the possession of the Fearlings and I need you five to help me get in there and save her, alright?!"

Bunny snorted, after recovering, "Really? You used t'werk for them, Pitch. Why can' ya do it yourself, huh?"

Pitch turned to Bunny and hissed, "Keep in mind the _past_ tense. I _used_ to work for them. If I show my face there, they will attack me, and if I fight them alone, I might as well dig a grave and carve my headstone." He turned to the rest of them, "I would never bring myself to grovel this low, but this is not for me and this is for Willow. You all know her, one way or another, yes? Don't you care for her wellbeing as well?"

No one made a move.

He scowled, though he panicked inside, and sneered, "Fine," he turned around, slowly heading towards the dark corner he came from, maybe there was hope they would agree. Pitch stopped walking and said over his shoulder, "And you call yourselves 'Guardians'."

"Wait!" Jack fought from Bunny's grip, he glanced at his comrades before sharing a look with Sandy, "I-we're in."

Pitch turned sideways, looking at Jack and then Sandy, his hope became a bit more.

Tooth flitted to them, "Me too." She turned to the remaining ones, wearing a pleading expression, "You two?"

Five figures appeared over Sandy's head with many lines connecting to smaller figures, '_We never leave a child behind._'

North and Bunny shared a look; Bunny shrugged and turned, about to say something, but then something large and blue flew through the Moon Window. Everyone pulled out their weapons, only to find…

"A Lunar Moth!" North exclaimed.

Pitch and Jack looked at each other; the things they didn't know, Jack tried the word, "A Lunar…Moth."

"I'm guessing this is something related to MiM?"

Tooth nodded, "Yep, they live with Manny in the Moon Clipper."

Pitch blinked, Jack shook his head, "You guys have a lot of explaining to do after this ordeal."

A bag hung at the side of the large moth, Sandy opened it and pulled out a letter. A white paper with golden designs and the Tsar's seal. He waved it in the air.

North took it and opened it, he looked at it for a couple of seconds before holding it out, "I cannot read English."

Pitch plucked it from his hands with a roll of his eyes, "Obviously," he straightened it out and cleared his throat, "Dear Guardians, I am in a bit of trouble on the Moon Clipper. I didn't want to bother you, thinking I could handle this. The Fearlings have invaded the Moon Clipper, which is the reason it seems dull at night. They are relentless; the Moonbots and Moonbeams have done what they could, but it is becoming difficult to hold them back now.

If you are coming, I'd like to warn you that Kozmotis Pitchiner is still alive-"

"What?!"

"No, it couldn't be!"

"Rimskey Gorsacov!"

Random pictures.

Pitch gave them a deadpanned expression, "You mind?" he asked and gestured to the letter.

"Continue." North said.

"-and he is much stronger than before. It seems that he didn't obliterate like we thought. He mentioned something about trapped spirits, free them, maybe they could be useful.

One last thing, try to convince Pitch to help you, he maybe not be on your side, but he has changed.

I bid you farewell, Tsar Lunar the Twelfth."

Bunny blinked, "Wait, what?" he snatched the letter and started to scan it, "Where does it say you changed?"

"Why?" Pitch taunted, "starting to deny your leader?"

North stroked his beard, "If this iz true, then ve must change plans."

Tooth pulled at her glove, "We could send the four of us to free not only Willow but all the other spirits, and then send the last to the Moon, to show Manny we got his message."

Jack tapped his staff, "Yeah, but how are you gonna get there? Don't tell you were planning to fly to the Moon Sharpener."

"Moon Clipper."

"Whatever, you got my point."

Pitch glanced at the Moth, "Take your Moon Butterfly, if it made it from the moon, then it can make it back."

Sandy shook his head and gestured to the soft moonbeams that entered the room.

Bunny gave him a look, "You're no' expectin' us t' ride the moonbeams, are ya?"

The golden man shook his head, he made many symbols over his head to explain his idea. The Guardians ended up playing a guessing game.

Pitch rolled his eyes, "If you touch the moonbeams, they'll take you to the moon. They're like a portal. Is picture reading _that_ hard to understand?"

"Okay, enough vishy-vashy. Von of us vill go to Manny," he stroked his beard, "But vhom?" he gestured to himself, "Me?"

Pitch shook his head, "No, you were a former bandit, you're the first person I thought of to help." He glanced at each one, trying to find the one out, he raised a brow, "Bunnymund, you can go."

"Me? Why?"

"Because I hate you and you'll kill me without a moment's regret." He shrugged, "I like my head where it is. Sorry."

She flew in, trying to keep them both away from each other, "I have an idea, let Sandy go."

Everyone looked at her, "Why?" Jack questioned.

"Because Manny needs all the light he can get, and what better source than good dreams? We'll be able to take out the Fearling here, but their main strength is on the Moon, plus we need stealth and -_no offense, Sandy_- but having a glow-in-the-dark won't help." She explained fervently, her colored braid swinging with ever movement.

Sandy nodded and gave a thumbs up; it had been a long time since he saw the Tsar Lunar in person.

"Fine," Pitch said, "It's settled. Sandy, you take that over-grown insect with you and go to the Moon…Clipper. The rest of us will go to the Fearling Hideout, free the spirits and take out the Fearlings themselves." He looked them over, "No offense, but you'll need to look less…attention grabbing."

"What's wrong with our current look?" Tooth asked.

He rolled his eyes and walked towards them, "Need I point it out for you? You've got too much red," he said and held up a piece of North's jacket, "You're hair is blazing white," Jack frowned and shook his head after Pitch smoothed it down, "You're jewels reflect light, very compromising," Pitch flicked Bunny while passing by him, "And you, Tooth…" he sighed, "You're just…a walking rainbow."

Jack shot up, "I always wanted to say that!"

Bunny struck a challenging pose, "Then 'ow do you expect us t'hide our colours?"

"North, don't you have some sort of dark clothing?"

North nodded, "Da, but vhat type?"

"A cloak, a cape, I don't know just something that could temporarily hide you there."

"Good idea."

A clock conjured over Sandy's head.

Pitch walked into a shadow, "We start now."

"Yeah! Operation Wisk the Wisps!"

* * *

**Yay! Willow's captured! Horay! I'm so happ-...**

**I-I mean, may she be freed.**

**So...the story of the Cloud Weaver was from this book my dad got on a trip from Japan. I don't know where it is, unfortunately, so the story is slightly altered.**

**I added a memory, see! Everyone's happy? Yeah? Good. It was really cute, trying to picture a baby Willow, so imagine baby Will dancing like Boo from Monsters Inc. I died from the cuteness.**

**About Tooth, I have this idea where when Tooth was first recruited she was cold and all Queen like. I mean, if you saw her picture from the book (which I don't have) she looks much more regal than the Movie Tooth. But now, she's not so cold because she found out that she could trust them, she's not so scary. **

**Hehe...I punsed... :D**

**The 'Pooka-mode' Sandy was talking about is that the Pooka's, when they eat chocolate, grow larger and get six arms. Not something made up, it's on the Wiki page.**

**And here's the part were the Guardians find out. It took me forever to be able to write this, so I went and asked my sister (she's only two years younger than me) for help, and then she started spurting gibberish with Jack doing an ice skating contest with Bunny and Bunny loses so as a punishment he has to do whatever Jack tells him and jack tells him to go to the basement of North's home and...well, I think she mentioned that when Pitch appears at North's everyone pull out bazookas from their back pockets.**

**Whatever, I'll just include it as something in the drabble series.**

**Yeah, we reached 90 revs, only ten left for the big 10-O! If you can, is it alright if you squeeze in a few more reviews and we make chapter 17 the chapter of 100 reviews? Please? It'll mean very much to me!**

**Cheerio!**


	18. Chapter 18: Operation Wisk the Wisps

**New chappie Isn't this wonderful!I'm so proud of me :D.**

**And you guys, as well, for the AWESOME reviews! *claps***

***many fireworks go out at once***

***gets hit by fireworks***

***colorful explosion***

**Hehe...*coughs out a ball of smoke*...yay, fist pump...*faints***

**Okay, so I seriously was grinning like an idiot when I saw the reviews, and the reviews themselves were just, wow, blew me away. I would've cried if I wasn't writing this chapter. Seriously, yes I know that we only got three here, but I'm hoping we get to the checkpoint soon, I've decided the next few chapter to the end aren't in requirement of reviews, so we'll see who's still the loyal reviewers, yup? :D**

**This chapter had two parts that made me almost cry, one out of mirth and the other out of...fluff. NO, I didn't cry because I felt sorry or anything, the fluff was so great it went in my eyes. Ugh, see, now it's raining fluff again.**

**Here, read this chapter while I remove the fluff and _allergy_ tears.**

* * *

Chapter 18: Operation Wisk the Wisps(...and other personnel)

* * *

Bunny stared at the Moon window, waiting earnestly for the moonbeams to get strong enough so Sandy could teleport to Manny. He looked down at his fur, temporarily sprayed black, his bracers were removed and so was his boomerangs and bombs holder, meaning he'd need to keep his weapons in his hands. The black fur reminded him of his younger brother, Grassin, before Kozmotis made him the last Pooka alive.

He looked like a large Halloween cat if he pulled his ears back.

Behind him, Tooth was watching the tooth fairies fan over Jack while trying to keep her laughter to a minimum. Jack was trying to gently pull the fairies away from his hair. Baby Tooth tutted and watched her 'sisters' from her place next to her mother. Pitch was impatiently sitting in a chair, flicking his hand every now and then to send tendrils of black sand to a child. He told them his story and apparently, he wasn't going to take over the world anytime soon. Bunny still had his suspicions.

Although they all were to wear long black cloaks, sans North, each was to wear something as colorless as possible. North had scavenged around his home for clothes for his comrades and ordered some of the female yetis to make new ones when the clothes he had didn't fit. A lot of Tooth had been sprayed like Bunny when the clothes didn't cover, like her wings and drapery, even though she objected and threatened to slice whoever held a can of spray near her.

Well, someone did spray, and that person was Jack. As revenge, Tooth drenched his hair black, everyone wondered if it would come out. His hair was still soft, hence the tooth fairies fondling.

Tooth clapped her hands, "Alright, girls, that's enough. I need you to go and cover up for me, now shoo!"

The girls let out a collective, "Aw!" in disappointment, but they complied, pecking Jack with their now point-free faces and flying away.

Jack sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Whew, thanks Tooth, they were close to taking snippets of my hair."

"They did." She said bluntly, still angry at him for coloring her feathers.

North walked in through the doors wearing the same clothes he wore when riding the sleigh, only instead his jacket was much darker, a very dark red it was almost black. He clapped his hands once to get everyone's attention, "Okay, ve are ready?"

Sandy held his hand out, gesturing to wait a few more seconds and then held out a thumbs up. The Moonbeams were strong now, ready to transport anyone to the Moon in a flash.

"Good." North said, "Good luck, Sandy."

He nodded vehemently and gently pulled at the Lunar Moth to wake it up. It followed Sandy to the Moonbeam and touched it with its head, in a flash of blue light it was gone along with Sandy.

Pitch blinked, clearly not used to something like this from MiM, the most he got from the lunar man were mental conversations.

Jack extended his hand to the Moonbeam, "Whoa, I'm totally touching that."

Bunny grasped Jack's hand and pulled it away before her could be transported to the Moon, "No' ye', Frosty, we need t'free the spirits firs'."

North snapped his fingers, "To the sleigh!"

.

.

.

As they walked towards the docking station, Pitch kept objecting, "North, there's no way that red bucket of yours will go undetected! We are going to a place where the lightest color exists is grey!"

"Vho said anything about red sleigh? I was talking of Sleigh Number Two!" the big man said jollily.

"Oh, heck." Bunny said sullenly, he had hoped they would at least use the snowglobes, but North was adamant to ride a sleigh of any kind.

The other sleigh was darker than the other for hiding and was slightly smaller, but strangely, there were no reindeers.

Jack looked at it, "Uh…North? Where are the reindeers?"

North chuckled, "No need for reindeers vhen ve have boosters!" he replied and patted one of the wings.

There were boosters at the back and under the wings, North had really upgraded his tech. Unfortunately. "Screwth, North, ya tryin' t'kill us?"

Pitch cleared his throat after staring at the SNT like it was a deathtrap, "I second that. Your first one was an invitation to Reaper, but _this_," he gestured to it with both hands, "will be doing Grim's work for him. He won't even need to show up."

"Nonsense, Pitch, I made walls higher!" he glanced at the dark man as he climbed in, "Now, get in. You too, Bunny."

Jack grinned at Bunny as he sat on the rail at the back, Bunny rolled his eyes and sat in the middle; that way if he was knocked out of place, he'd fall into someone.

North pushed a few buttons and pushed a handle upwards, "Are ve ready?" he hollered as the engines started to hum to life. The yetis that were there quickly moved out of the way. "Buckle up, everyvon!"

Pitch, realizing they were about to start moving, looked around frantically, "Wait, North! Where are the _seatbelts_?!"

"It vas just expression!" He called as flames spurt from behind and under the wings, sending the sleigh whooshing through the intricate launching slides.

His back plastered to the backrest, Pitch's heart raced, the wind was so hard he felt tears collecting at the corner of his eyes. He felt for something to hold onto and when he didn't, but it was so hard to do when the wind was beating onto him. Bunny, a seat under him, was muttering something about losing his stomach. Any other time he would've mocked him, but now, the Pooka took the words right out of his mouth.

Not everyone was feeling the same though; Tooth had her arms up in a very childish manner while squealing in delight, her wings fluttered in excitement. North was holding onto the wheel with one hand and the other gripping his hat while he laughed, "I hope you like the loop-de-loops!" he yelled.

Bunny let out a cry, "Oh no! This is the end! This is it!"

"_If we die North, I'll kill you!_" Pitch yelled.

Tooth let out a laugh when they went upside down and even had the audacity to clap her hands, "This is amazing, North!" she said.

Pitch glanced, North was at the wheel, Tooth was sitting near him on the verge of standing up, and Bunny was saying his prayers. He felt something was missing, and then Pitch noticed the screaming at the back.

Jack had the 'G' of his staff hooked to the backseat and was holding onto it with one hand, the rest of his body was flying like a flag. "_**THIS IS AWESOME!**_" He yelled over the engine.

Pitch yelped, but before he could say anything, they flew off the ramp and Jack's staff left the backseat. The boy flew off with a fear-stricken expression, becoming smaller until he disappeared. Pitch watched where Jack once was with a frozen expression until he shook his head, "North, Jack just-"

"Boo!"

This time, Pitch almost screamed and turned to his side to find Jack's grinning face. Pitch let out a sigh of relief and placed a hand over his heart.

Jack fist-pumped, "Oh yeah! I just spooked the Master of Spookiness! How cool was that!"

Pitch scowled, infuriated that the hellion made a fool of him and swiped his hand pathetically at Jack's head. But of course Jack dodged it lazily and flew into the sleigh to sit at the rail at the back, resting his feet on the seat.

"Oh, and Pitch, your hair's just-" he made a whooshing sound and ran his hands through his hair. Snapping his fingers, frost appeared out of thin air to become a round circle, he handed it to Pitch with a snicker.

Glancing at it, Pitch wanted to groan; if anyone had told him looked like he ran through a tunnel before, now…his hair was straight backwards like something exploded his face.

"Get ready, ve vill take shortcut!" North called and pulled out a snowglobe.

"Aw, c'mon, mate, please don' do this t'me." Bunny said, holding his stomach.

North flashed a grin and whispered the location, "Shadow Grove." He threw the snowglobe and it opened a portal a few yards away from the sleigh. While Jack and Tooth held their hands up, Bunny groaned, and Pitch stared wide eyed as the sleigh was sucked into the wormhole.

The appeared in a dark sky, fear filled the air, a bad fear that made Pitch uncomfortable. North landed the sleigh near a large boulder, obscuring it from possible enemies.

Bunny hopped out and started to empty his guts nearby. North called to him, nervously joking, "Sorry Bunny!"

"Where are we?" Tooth asked, looking around.

Jack looked around, "Some place near the North Pole."

North looked at him, "How did you know, Jack?"

"The wind told me and it's dark, like night dark. The North Pole is in its six months of nighttime." He shrugged.

Pitch, impatient to get to Willow, said, "Well, suit up you lot, and from now on, keep your eyes open. If you see a shadow move, don't write it off as your imagination."

The Guardians placed their cloaks on, and with several touches of shadows from Pitch, they blended into the scenery. A large, shadowy castle loomed over them, shadows flew around it, it reminded Pitch of old memories from his 'alliance' with the Fearling Leader. But it was a bit odd, as many of the Fearlings were concentrated at the tall structures protruding from the place, the clanking of chains filled the empty air.

They stopped walking a few feet away from the large entrance, with a nod from Pitch, Tooth and North went swiftly to the Fearlings at the shadowy entrance and sliced them up with a flash of their swords. Quickly, the rest of the group came to meet them at the entrance and removed their cloaks as they were no longer needed.

"Alright, Tooth, North, guard our backs. Bunny, keep an eye out for any dangers ahead and ready your weapons."

"Why am I takin' orders from you?"

"Not now, Bunny!" Tooth hissed, "For Willow, remember?"

They crept down the hallways, Pitch was afraid to shadow-teleport, the shadows here weren't like normal ones, they were cursed, last time he tried using them. However, he held his hand out, feeling if it was fine or not.

Bunny's boomerang flew forwards, slicing through many Fearlings at once. The others notice their comrades fall and looked at the direction of the attack.

Quickly, they plastered themselves to the wall in an attempt to blend. The Fearlings flew past them, but one noticed Jack's foot. As soon as he went near him, a spark of winter magic flew from Jack's hand and froze the Fearling, he shattered it with his staff into many pieces.

"Huh, I didn't know that happened."

Tooth flew to a door and touched it, "Hey, do you think this door could be it?"

"No," Pitch replied, "the prison was a secret door. They expected visitors often and so they had to hide the door. Keep your eyes sharp, it could be any-"

"This is it!" North exclaimed, pulled a door open from the ground.

"-where."

Hopping through, they were surprised by how dark it was.

"Wow, it's pitch black in here."

Even through the dark, Jack felt Pitch's glare on his head.

"Hey, it's not my fault you named yourself after an expression." Jack said defensively and gripped his staff a bit harder until it crackled and glowed blue. It only lit a few feet in front of them, but it was enough for them to use, most of them worked at night anyways so they were used to the darkness.

Before Tooth could follow them, she heard the sound of something flying towards her. She whipped her head in the direction, but was too late, it was only mere seconds until the shadow spear pierced her.

A few inches from her, the projectile exploded. Tooth sighed in relief, and then noticed a colorful ball hovering where the spear was.

"Baby Tooth?!"

Her daughter squeaked in happiness and slashed her tiny sword triumphantly, 'I saved you, Mama! Aren't you proud of me?"

Tooth held out her hands and the little fairy stood in them, folding her feathered wings behind her. "I am proud, baby, but didn't I tell you to go back to Punjam Hy Loo?"

Baby Tooth nodded vehemently, shaking her head feathers, 'Yes, you did tell me to, but I was curious and I wanted to fight! And I wanted to show you I can take care of myself and I felt you were in danger and-'

"Okay, okay," Tooth chuckled.

"Toothie, let's go!" North called.

She froze and then stuttered, "C-Coming, North! I'm just, uh, ordering my fairies. Can't telepathy to them without concentration!"

"Quickly, then."

Tooth turned back to her daughter, "Okay, you can come with me, but stay hidden, the Fearlings might see you."

'But I wanna fight, Mama! Please oh please!'

"You will, when I give you the signal." Tooth said and let Baby Tooth sit at her shoulder before following her friends.

They walked a bit and Bunny said, "So, where's the prison?"

"At the end of the hallway, so expect anything to come and-"

There was a screeching sound everyone recognized as the sound of the Fearlings. They all readied their weapons, filling the air with the dying screeches of the shadowy beings. When the screeching stopped, they looked around to find the place not as dark as it used to be and the remnants of Fearlings on the ground, poofing out of existence.

"Let's go."

Without wasting another moment, they hurried to the end of the hallway; large doors loomed over the group with a large lock.

Pitch fingered it, "It's made of shadows, but it's still a lock." He turned to the rest of them, "Anyone has experience with lock-picking?"

North smugly pulled out a box the side of his hand and opened it, many strange looking tools were inside. He kneeled at the lock and removed a thin, long rod with a hooked end and what looked like tweezers.

Jack marveled at North's skill, "Wow, North, I didn't know you can pick locks."

"Ah, a very important skill for a Cossak bandit."

Jack's eyebrows furrowed, "A…cooking bandit?"

Bunny snickered, "Yep, a cookin' bandi'."

There was a click and in no time, North bounced the lock in his hands.

Pitch coated the doors with black sand, Jack then froze it with a tap of his staff. The others started to pound against it, a few more hits and the wall fell, as well as the door.

* * *

Willow had curled in a corner, watching the many spirits trapped here idly. There were elemental spirits, seasonal spirits, guardians, holiday spirits…so many.

Andarta let out a battle cry and ran towards the door with a metal stick she found on the ground and leaped before throwing it. It hit the door and clattered harmlessly on the ground. She grabbed it again ad desperately started to bash the door, "Let us oot ye mangy beasts!"

"Please, Merida, stop it," Lowee said tiredly and flopped his head on his knees, rustling his fiery orange hair.

Any other time, Willow would've fanned over Lowee and tried to say something that let him at least hear her.

Peter Pan, sitting near Lowee, tried to keep up the childish hope he always possessed, "Don't lose hope, think happy thoughts."

Tinkling followed his words, Tinkerbell nodded, agreeing with him all the way.

"Sorry, Kid, but any 'happy thoughts' here will be chased away by those shadows." A man in green said.

Morgan, the Wales water spirit conjured a ball of water in her hand, which transformed to a clover. Nix, another water spirit from Russia, nodded her direction, "Morgan iz right, Leppy, you are spirit of luck, vhy not give us luck that ve find secret escape hole?"

A woman with white hair and a green tail nodded, "He has point, green man. I am dehydrated and zere are many people falling into vater bodies now."

The Leprechaun shook his head, "I'd like to, Ondine, but I can't, it's like there's some sort of spell on this place."

Merida stood at the end opposite to the door, "Move back." She muttered before running towards the door while transforming to a bear. Her head rammed into the door, but she didn't fall. She started to growl, bite and claw at it but it didn't budge.

Suddenly, she froze. May Queen tentatively walked towards her, "What is it, Andarta?"

Merida let out an annoyed growl, probably to shut the seasonal up, and continued staring at the door. Everyone had stopped talking, wondering why the spirit had stopped moving.

"What is she doing?"

"I don't know."

"Is it the Fearlings?!"

"Keep your voice down!"

The whispering halted when a click resounded around them. Willow huddled closer in her space when she saw the strongest of the spirits prepare themselves for the worst; she was in no mood to fight. A sudden sheen coated the door, sparkling like little gems. Willow narrowed her eyes, the substance seeming familiar, and then her eyes widened when frost crawled from all corners. Everyone had stopped breathing, not knowing what to make of this.

Willow stood up from her place, gripping a lock of hair in anticipation, "It cannae be." She whispered.

"Von more time, come on." Someone said from behind. There were a few thuds and then the door exploded to reveal the persons.

The imprisoned spirits watched the Guardians of Childhood, as though they couldn't believe their eyes, and then they started to cheer.

North said in a booming voice, "Okay, everyone, Manny needs help, Kozmotis the Fearling leader is fighting him on the moon."

There were many gasps, some questioning how Kozmotis was still alive, and others freaked out.

"Look, this is simple, fellas," Bunny said, "you all ge' outta 'ere and as soon as you find a Moonbeam, touch it and it'll take you t'the moon."

Jack flipped his staff, "If you can't, try and help from down here."

May Queen tilted her head to the side and she stopped trying to undo the chains at her fifty feet of golden hair, "How, Jack?"

"Uh…try and get the kids to believe in the Guardians and any other spirits who depends on belief."

The spirits started to leave, flying, running, to go back to the light. Willow flew upwards to get out of the way from the spirit stampede, looking for the Guardians of Childhood. She pinpointed them at the entrance, four of them were there with Pitch. The dark man was standing at the side with his arms crossed, surveying the spirits. She saw him pull a random spirit and ask something, the spirit shrugged and flew.

A light feeling filled her, knowing that he still cared for her to come and save her. She smiled and darted to him, before Pitch could register what happened, Willow hugged him tightly. He didn't stiffen this time, and instead he hugged her back.

"Thanks," she said, pulling away a bit, "Fer savin' me."

"Anything for you, Sheena." He said with a soften expression.

Willow froze, feeling her hands almost fall from around his neck. She felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes.

Pitch chuckled softly and let her bury her face in the crook of his neck as he stroked her hair.

"Y-Yew remember nauw?" she asked with a sniffle.

"Yes, yes I do."

Tooth, who noticed their little family reunion, squealed and zipped to Willow, almost crushing her in a hug, "Oh, thank god you're okay, Willa!" She said.

Willow smiled, "They wouldnae be able t'dew anythin' t'me."

Jack appeared next to Tooth, "You missed a lot, Willow, Pitch here scre-"

He slapped his hand over Jack's mouth, "Lying is not a good virtue, Jack, you should know better." Pitch grimaced in disgust and pulled his hand away after Jack had licked it.

The boy spit on the ground and wiped his tongue all over the black shirt he was wearing, "M- pth, _Me_?! I'm lying?!"

They walked towards the entrance, where Bunny and North were. Willow looked around, "Where's Sandy?"

"He's on the Moon." Bunny replied.

Willow rolled her eyes, "Yew dinna 'ave t'be sarcastic, Aster."

"He's not being sarcastic," Pitch said before Bunny could throw a fit over the use of his middle name, "He _is_ on the moon, and we're going there."

"Right, to the sleigh!" North said and started to walk out.

Willow remembered something, "Wayt! Um, North, I'll meet yew there."

"Vhy?"

"There's sumthin' I need t'dew."

There was _no_ way Pitch was going on that deathtrap again, "I too have important business to attend to."

"Fine, ve vill meet you there. Everyone else, let's go!"

Bunny groaned, "Oh, crikey."

* * *

**...wow, intense man.**

**Raise your hand if you love Sleigh Number Two. If I celebrated Christmas I would've asked Santa for one.**

**So...Andarta is an old Scottish Spirit, tied to bears, well, most old Scottish Spirits were tied to bears, so _were_ bears. Andarta (Merida) is, obviously, the Guardian of Bravery and is sort of like North with the other Guardians. However, she is not the first Guardian.**

**Lowee, Guardian of Fright...Willow's secret crush, but don't tell her XD. I'm still thinking if I should make Willow Jack's secret crush or not. If you guys think so, I'll have to write a drabble about that. But Pitch won't be pleased in the least.**

**I know I wrote something about about May Queen before; she's the Spring seasonal and Jack's SISTER, okay? She's not a guardian, she's older than Jack by a decade or two. She has really long golden hair that heals...*sarcastic* I have no idea who she is *dumb face* Rapunzel.**

**I'm making reference to RotBTD a bit more than I wanted, but I couldn't resist! I'm guilty!**

**The three water spirits I added are real, but the Ondine is more known for drowning men, or something equally crazy. Morgan is a mute, like Sandy, and uses water to get her point across. Nix is the male variant of...something, I don't remember, but whatever, they're not Guardians.**

**And Peter Pan and Tinkerbell! Anyone who had a childhood without them missed half of their childhood! Thank happy thoughts, people! *starts to float up* uh, guys, a little help...here? Peter is the Guardian of Imagination and Tinkerbell is the Guardian of Faith.**

**Okay, yeah *blows nose* boy, those allergies are really strong. Who else has allergies from the fluff in the air? *sobs* allergies, just allergies.**

**So, that's it for now. We get to the big battle next time! **

**As for reviews...just help me get to 100, but I still will post the next chapter if we don't get reviews. I just wanna know what you think, kay?**

**Check out my tumblr for Chapter 1's illustration!**

**I shall leave you all with this question: What will happen? What was the chains at Shadow grove for?**


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